Musk wields chainsaw on stage at conservative conference
The chainsaw was presented to him by Argentina’s President Javier Milei at the Conservative Political Action Conference.
Elon Musk appeared at a conservative gathering outside Washington on Thursday waving a chainsaw in the air, showing openness to auditing the Federal Reserve and accusing Democrats of “treason”.
The Tesla chief executive, who has become perhaps President Donald Trump’s most influential adviser, spoke about his crusade to cut government spending and downsize the federal workforce with the administration’s Department of Government Efficiency.
The entrepreneur was announced earlier in the day as a speaker at the Conservative Political Action Conference, drawing huge cheers from activists.
Before his appearance, he met with Argentina’s President Javier Milei, who has been praised by Mr Musk and popularised the power tool while campaigning in 2023 and proposing slashing public spending.
After Mr Musk appeared onstage, wearing shades and his trademark black Make America Great Again hat, he said Mr Milei had a gift for him. The president walked onstage with the red chainsaw – engraved with Mr Milei’s slogan “Viva la libertad, carajo,” which is Spanish for “Long live liberty, damn it” – and passed it to Mr Musk.
“This is the chainsaw for bureaucracy,” he said.
Mr Musk criticised the previous Biden administration for its immigration policies, specifically naming an app that was used by nearly one million people to be allowed into the US on two-year permits with eligibility to work.
He accused former president Joe Biden and Democrats of doing that as an “investment” to get more support in swing states.
“A lot of people don’t quite appreciate that this was an actual real scam at scale to tilt the scales of democracy in America,” Mr Musk said before Newsmax host Rob Schmitt asked him, “Treason?”
Mr Musk responded: “Treason.”
When Mr Schmitt asked him if he would consider auditing the Federal Reserve, Mr Musk responded: “Yeah, sure, while we’re at it.”
“Waste is pretty much everywhere,” he said.
The billionaire joked that El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele has told him he is worried about his security and was open to ideas on how to improve his safety measures.
“President Bukele from El Salvador, who managed to put in prison like a hundred thousand murderous thugs, and he called me. ‘I am worried about your security’,” he said the Central American leader told him. “I’m like, ‘Dude, you are worried about my security?’.”
When asked to describe what is like inside his mind, Mr Musk replied: “My mind is a storm. It’s a storm.”
Steve Bannon, who once served as Mr Trump’s chief strategist, followed the appearance and acknowledged he was not the evening’s top attraction as he took the stage to a far less enthusiastic reception.
“How did I draw the card to follow Elon Musk?” he asked about a man he has frequently criticised as insufficiently loyal to Mr Trump. “C’mon, man! You bring out the world’s wealthiest guy, Superman. I’m supposed to follow it? I’m just a crazy Irishman!”
