Elon Musk’s shouting match with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent might have been the final nail in the coffin for the tech billionaire’s four-month stint in the White House, but it came after months of bubbling frustration at Musk’s “chain-saw” approach to dismantling the federal government.

Musk and Bessent exploded at each other in April when Musk attempted to force through his pick to lead the IRS—Gary Shapley—behind Bessent’s back. (Musk eventually lost this battle—Shapley lasted less than 72 hours before Bessent tapped Michael Faulkender to replace him.)

“Fuck you! Fuck you! Fuck you!” a typically mild-mannered Bessent was heard shouting after Musk as they charged down the halls of the West Wing.

  • 0000011110110111i@lemm.ee
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    12 hours ago

    Elon left the White House an utter failure.

    No, he didn’t. He killed all the government investigations into him and awarded his companies huge contracts worth $billions for the foreseeable future. He achieved everything he really set out to do. DOGE was just the distraction.

    • thedruid@lemmy.world
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      8 hours ago

      Is everyone forgetting the data access this guy has now? He accessed EVERYTHING and his script kiddies installed a ton of shit

      He did exactly what he was supposed to do Got the private information of every single person we have records on. That’s a goddamn huge win for his fragile self

      • mriswith@lemmy.world
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        7 hours ago

        Most people have absolutely zero idea about the access they had and what they could have copied.

    • Whats_your_reasoning@lemmy.world
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      6 hours ago

      He did leave as an utter failure - not because of what he accomplished or didn’t accomplish, but because he was already an utter failure of a human being the day he arrived in the White House.

    • A_norny_mousse@feddit.org
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      9 hours ago

      Elon left the White House an utter failure.

      Socially, yes. And he hates it. He’s a narcissist, I doubt he will think of it as a success. OTOH, that’s exactly what he’s been doing for decades: failing yet still coming out richer afterwards.

      Honestly it baffles me that this is enough to become the richest person in the world.
      When will we learn that he actively influences these statistics to stroke his ego?

      • psycho_driver@lemmy.world
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        7 hours ago

        Failing upward is the new norm. Probably because of all the sub-par people of generational wealth clogging the drains of society.

      • gradual@lemmings.world
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        9 hours ago

        I think elon’s responsiveness to criticism stems more from his autism than narcissism.

        I don’t think he has the mental faculties necessary to go against the influence of his peers. In many ways, he’s doing exactly what people expect him to.