Elon Musk, the Head of the Department of Governmental Efficiency (DOGE) said on Friday that he will rehire Marko Elez, a 25-year-old staffer who resigned from the government agency last week. He resigned after a Wall Street Journal report linked him to a deleted X account that posted racist messages.
The Stories Big Media Won’t Tell
38 years of authentic voices, fresh perspectives daily. Subscribe now for free and never miss a story that everyone’s talking about! 📰
Among the archived posts that the Wall Street Journal reviewed were comments like “Just for the record, I was racist before it was cool” and, “You could not pay me to marry outside of my ethnicity.” Another post targeted Indians saying “Normalize Indian hate.”
Following his resignation, Musk polled X users on whether he should rehire Elez. Vice President J.D. Vance voiced support for Elez in his response to the poll, stating that social media activity should not be allowed to destroy someone’s life. “We shouldn’t reward journalists who try to destroy people. Ever. So I say bring him back,” he said in the post.
Musk responded to Vance’s post by saying, “He will be brought back. To err is human, to forgive divine.”
Congressman Ro Khanna also joined in the conversation on X, responding to Vance’s post: “Are you going to tell him to apologize for saying “Normalize Indian hate” before this rehire? Just asking for the sake of both of our kids.”
Vance responded again, alleging Khanna was using emotional blackmail under the guise of concern. “Racist trolls on the internet, while offensive, don’t threaten my kids,” he said. “You know what does? A culture that denies grace to people who make mistakes. A culture that encourages congressmen to act like whiny children.”