Sports fans recognize that in almost every successful, championship winning season, it’s almost impossible to forecast on Opening Day who will stand out and make the biggest contribution to the team when the rubber hits the road and it matters the most.
There’s a reason why there’s only one most valuable player designation, and/or a single winner of the Super Bowl’s MVP. G.O.A.T. Tom Brady won both titles many times. He was about as close to a sure thing as they get in sports. Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes may be the next in line for the designation.
But American politics is a different animal. Donald Trump made a splash in 2016, and largely through the force of personality and a winning populist Make America Great Again platform, won the political equivalent of most valuable player – and World Series MVP in November, 2016.
This year, nominations are still open for awards. My nominee is someone who few figured would play such a prominent role in the most critical of consequential elections. In an article titled, “Musk estimates $2 trillion of waste could be eliminated from federal budget”, Kerry Pickett reported on the man who I think should win all the accolades at The Washington Times the other day:
“Billionaire executive Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, said he thinks that $2 trillion could be eliminated from the federal budget after being introduced at former President Donald Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally.
“Howard Lutnick, the chairman-CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald and chairman of the Trump 2024 Transition Team, introduced Mr. Musk as the soon-to-be-head of the new Department of Government Efficiency. Mr. Lutnick, before he exited the stage, asked Mr. Musk how much could be ‘ripped out of this wasted $6.5 trillion House-Biden budget?’
“Mr. Musk responded, ‘I think nearly $2 trillion. All that double spending is taxation, whether it’s direct taxation or indirect taxation, your money is being wasted,’ he said. ‘And the Department of Government Efficiency is going to fix that. … ‘We’re going to get the government out of your back pocket and pocketbook. America is just not done. It is going to be great,’ he said. ‘America is going to reach heights that it has never seen before.’”
Yes, it will. What honest, objective person doubts that Musk would do what he said he would do? Will the DGE (Department of Government Efficiency) be a new cabinet-level post? Would it need senate confirmation? Would “Chucky” Schumer and Patty Murray and Elizabeth Warren – and all the other Democrat senator kooks – go along with it?
Beyond the point, Elon Musk is the most valuable not-Trump member of the 2024 race. In the biggest of many improbable things concerning the Trump 2024 campaign effort is the emergence of Musk as a superstar, not only of the American culture wars, but also a major force in American politics. Longtime observers of the South African knew he had potential to be a mover and shaker on the political scene, but it took someone as eccentric and unique as Donald Trump to bring the intangibles of Musk to the forefront.
Musk and Trump are markedly different in the manner they’ve done business, how they see the world and how they conduct themselves in public, but the qualities they share are far more significant in the overall scheme of things. Both Musk and Trump have fed off their public personas to vastly expand the size of their business empires. Both have virtually limitless popularity within their own spheres, and both take an inherently practical view towards American politics.
You may recall Trump didn’t even officially become a Republican until sometime last decade (I don’t remember exactly when) and only signed up as a GOPer because he needed party machinery to run for president. Fans of American history know there’ve been a lot of ambitious wanna bes who aspired to take the top job of POTUS, but wouldn’t commit to being either a Democrat or Republican and thus conceded defeat before they even tossed their proverbial hat into the ring.
And that’s how we eventually got a wholly mediocre man like senile Joe Biden as president, and you could probably add George W. Bush to the list of mid-level talents (at best) who somehow got themselves elected to the White House.
But Americans love success stories, and it doesn’t matter what the figure is like as a man or a person as long as they’ve got an asterisk by their names in lists of remarkable people. Trump took his experience as a builder, tabloid celebrity and reality TV star, in a career that spanned decades, to acquire the notoriety and name recognition to have Americans pay attention to what he had to say when he did decide to dip his toe into the pool of politics.
Not all people love him, of course, but even the biggest Trump hater would have to admit that everyone knows him. Whereas in most elections there’s probably some hermit in a cabin with no electricity somewhere who’s never heard of either presidential aspirant (certainly true of Kamala Harris this year), but I’d challenge you to find an American who doesn’t know who Donald Trump is now.
The same is becoming true of Elon Musk, who’s gained fame as a new-age entrepreneur and businessman who’s attained, like Trump, a reputation that is outside of his products. Everyone who knows Musk associates him with Paypal, electric cars (Tesla) and space exploration – and “X”, the former Twitter – but Elon, through the course of contemporary politics, has developed a new identity, that of systemic outsider.
Democrat Senator John Fetterman (who is observant and wiser than I ever thought he would be) pointed out that Must would make a big difference in this race, but who could’ve figured it would be THIS big?
Musk has become larger than life mostly due to his newfound friendship with Trump. I can’t say if it was a calculated move, but Elon’s decision to not only take sides but actively campaign for Trump has assured himself of long-lasting staying power in American politics.
Musk’s accent reminds this observer a little bit of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s, an Austrian who climbed the fame ladder through acting. But Elon, like Arnold, is precluded from ever thinking about running for president because of the Constitution’s birthright citizenship provision. So right from the get-go, we know Musk will never be president. But that can still work to his advantage.
Instead, Musk can arguably have just as much influence in the real world by being himself and championing principles and causes like Elon has done with the Constitution and Free Speech. Think about it. Through his purchase of “X” – formerly Twitter -- Musk has had a much larger impact on the 2024 election than he could have done just by being famous and influential.
And whereas liberal celebrities like LeBron James and Taylor Swift have social media followings in the tens of millions, they don’t sway public opinion. Or at least not that much.
But when Musk comes on stage like he did the other night at Madison Square Garden and boasts of being able to isolate $2 trillion from the federal budget to cut and eliminate due to pure waste, people pay attention. I can’t say for sure, but Elon, in that one moment, probably secured Trump many, many wavering voters who can’t stand Trump but will vote for him now because they reason Musk will be delving into government waste if Trump wins.
That’s an endorsement made of pure gold. Or electoral gold.
All along, Trump and Musk had enjoyed a kind of symbiotic relationship that’s benefited them both. Musk’s businesses now receive the advantage of being associated with the MAGA movement, and Trump’s MAGA earns Musk’s star power and credibility for votes for his campaign.
Sure, Musk takes a minimal business risk for being so public, which he first did after the initial assassination try on Trump’s life, but even people who hold his politics against him will still buy Musk’s innovative products. It’s a win-win situation. And Elon earns a bonus because he will guarantee America’s sacred principle of free speech.
At the same time, having Musk – possibly – placed in charge of governmental efficiency assures that the perpetual problem of waste, fraud and abuse will receive long needed attention by someone outside the government who has a vested interest in trying to rein in the beast. Many, many, conservative politicians have complained about the size of government, that it spends too much, is uncontrollable, unaccountable and irresponsible, but Musk gives the movement much desired “street cred”. When Musk talks, people listen.
Musk may not realize it, but he was Tea Party before there was such a thing as the Tea Party.
How popular is Musk? Well, statistics from Donald Trump’s appearance on Joe Rogan’s podcast last week have come out, with the 2024 Republican candidate drawing nearly 35 million views thus far on YouTube, which is certainly impressive. But when Musk came to the show at Rogan’s invitation, he drew nearly 70 million views, achieving Rogan’s number one of all time.
Told you Musk was the MVP.
When this is all over – if it (meaning the campaign) actually concludes – Donald Trump will have a lot of people to thank. Some people helped out because they wanted something from him. Others chipped in their money because they simply hoped his MAGA agenda would make America a better place, and having a government with credibility is vital to them.
With an assist to supporters like Musk, Trump may very well get the chance to Make America Great Again. Who would’ve ever thought?
Honorable mention for MVP goes to Tucker Carlson, who summed up Trump’s candidacy about as well as anyone has this year on Sunday night at Madison Square Garden. “Liberation is the freedom to say what is obviously true as a free man and not a slave. Thank you, Donald Trump for that.”
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Speaker Mike Johnson
Donald Trump assassination
Donald Trump
2024 presidential election
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