Elon Musk is lashing out at President Trump's “Big, Beautiful" bill in anger after getting "fired," commentator Bill Kristol speculated.
In his most forceful criticism to date of Trump's policies, Musk labeled the sprawling bill, which encompasses Trump's major legislative priorities, a "disgusting abomination."
While Musk has cited concerns with the bill's impact on the federal deficit, some see a personal side to his sudden change in tone since leaving his White House role last week.
During his time as the leader of DOGE, Musk largely avoided blasting Trump directly, even as he voiced strong opposition to Trump's tariff plans.
Kristol, a longtime Trump critic, said Musk's sudden attack on the Big, Beautiful Bill looks like an indirect shot at Trump.
Kristol said he doubts Musk has read the sprawling legislation, given the aggressive, sweeping approach DOGE deployed to downsize the government.
"The attack on the bill is entirely an attack on Trump," he told MSNBC's The Beat.
"Elon Musk has not studied the, you know, 1,000-page House bill, how it changes in the Senate. He didn’t study any of the agencies he’s ruined, USAID and others, but he’s done a lot of damage to the country. He didn’t even bother to study for that. He’s not studying some 1,000-page bill with complicated Medicaid cuts, tax provisions, and so forth. It’s his way of attacking Trump.”
Musk's resignation from his role as a "special government employee" was presented by Musk and the White House as a scheduled departure, but there have been some reports that Musk expected to stay on longer.
The Tesla CEO is also reportedly upset that the bill does not have an electric vehicle tax credit that he lobbied for, Axios reported.
"Don’t you think his reaction suggests Trump fired him? This talk about you mentioned a breakup. True enough, he was going to go back to his business. He’d only 120 days and all that nonsense. He wanted to stay. He loved it there. I think Trump just said at some point, no, sorry, goodbye. Because I just think the ferocity," Kristol said.
Trump has refrained, so far, from reacting to Musk's criticism even as Musk doubles down on attacking the president's agenda.
"KILL THE BILL," Musk wrote in a post on Wednesday.
“The president already knows where Elon Musk stood on this bill," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said a day earlier. "It doesn’t change the president’s opinion."
