JD Vance Makes a Sly Dig at Donald Trump as Elon Musk Gains Favor in MAGA Circles

As the political landscape continues to shift in the wake of Donald Trump’s victory, Vice President-elect J.D. Vance seems to be grappling with being overshadowed by the Republican leader's new favorite ally— Elon Musk. As Musk enjoys a growing rapport with Trump and his inner circle, Vance has taken to social media to air his agitations, even throwing a thinly veiled jab at Trump’s priorities. The friction began when Grace Chong, CFO and COO of Steve Bannon's War Room podcast, took to X (formerly Twitter) to slam Republican senators, including Vance, for missing Senate votes. She accused them of shirking their responsibilities, demanding, "You guys better show up and do your one fricken job!!"

As per The List, Trump echoed this sentiment on his own platform, Truth Social, urging Republicans to hold the line against confirming judicial nominees. He wrote, "The Democrats are trying to stack the courts with radical Left judges on their way out the door. Republican senators need to show up and hold the line — No more judges confirmed before Inauguration Day!" Vance, however, didn’t take the criticism lightly. In a since-deleted post, he slammed Chong as a 'mouth-breathing imbecile' and indirectly criticized Trump’s priorities. He penned, "I tend to think it's more important to get an FBI director who will dismantle the deep state than it is for Republicans to lose a vote 49-46 rather than 49-45. But that's just me."

Musk’s growing proximity to Trump has fueled speculation about a rift between the latter and Vance. Musk has become a regular at Mar-a-Lago, even joining Trump’s private jet dinners with key allies like Don Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. His presence at campaign rallies—where he declared himself ‘dark MAGA’ —has only solidified his position as a significant player in Trump’s circle. Intriguingly, Musk was appointed to co-lead Trump’s planned Department of Government Efficiency alongside Vivek Ramaswamy.

The department’s mission to slash regulations and restructure federal agencies aligns with Trump’s agenda, leaving Vance in a seemingly diminished role despite his position as Vice President-elect. Interestingly, as per reports Trump’s campaign also worked with Musk’s platform, X, to suppress leaked documents related to Vance. Journalist Ken Klippenstein shared a 271-page vetting file containing sensitive information about Vance, which X promptly removed, citing privacy concerns.

As per The Guardian, Klippenstein wrote, “The real election interference here is that a social media corporation can decree certain information unfit for the American electorate. Two of our most sacred rights as Americans are the freedoms of speech and assembly, online or otherwise. It is a national humiliation that these rights can be curtailed by anyone with enough digits in their bank account.” Critics have pointed out the irony, given Trump’s past enthusiasm for hacked Hillary Clinton emails during the 2016 election.