Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk said Friday that his position as head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has put his companies at a disadvantage—while also taking aim at Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, whom he called a “jerk” for mocking Tesla’s declining stock price.
“It’s actually disadvantageous for me to be in the government, not advantageous,” Musk, 53, argued in an interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier on Special Report.
“If I wasn’t in the government, I could lobby and I could push for things that are advantageous to my companies, and probably get it – probably receive them,” he explained, referring to his leadership at Tesla, SpaceX, and Neuralink.
Musk claimed that his companies are suffering because of his government role, pointing to a series of recent attacks on Tesla vehicle owners, dealerships, and charging stations.
“Do you think it helps sales if, you know, dealerships are being firebombed? Of course not.”
Musk vs. Walz
The tech mogul also directed criticism at Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat and former running mate to Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 election, after Walz mocked Tesla’s stock plunge during an event in Wisconsin.
“I mean, you have Tim Walz, who’s a huge jerk, you know, running around on stage with the Tesla stock price, where the stock price had gone in half, and he was overjoyed,” Musk said. “What an evil thing to do. What a creep. What a jerk.”
“Like, who derives joy from that?” he added.
Walz later insisted he was joking when he said watching Tesla’s stock price plummet gives him ‘a little boost during the day.’
Musk, however, wasn’t convinced.
“Does that sound like a good person to you? I don’t think so.”
Also, when asked what keeps him up at night, Musk, who is a proud father of 13, pointed to the world’s declining birth rates as a major concern.
“The birth rate is very low in almost every country, and unless that changes, civilization will disappear,” Musk warned. “America had the lowest birth rate, I believe, ever — that was last year … and nothing seems to be turning that around.”
“Humanity is dying, and people — it’s just not something we’ve evolved to react to.”
Musk also expressed concerns about America’s global standing, calling the country the “central column” of Western civilization.
“If that column fails, it’s all over.”
