Elon Musk is suddenly facing lots of bad news. A judge just ordered the Trump administration to reinstate thousands of fired federal workers, a blow to Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency. Meanwhile, two new polls show approval of Musk cratering—and importantly, that large majorities are turning against Musk’s mission of gutting the government. What if the mobilization against Musk and Tesla is working? We talked to writer Paul Waldman, who has a good new piece on his Substack arguing that the campaign against Tesla is good for America. He explains why the backlash against Musk is revealing heartening things about public opinion—and why that portends stiffening resistance to the Trump-Musk project. Listen to this episode here. A transcript is here.
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Fiasco for Musk as He Craters in New Polls and DOGE Cuts Lose in Court
As a judge blocks the Trump-Musk effort to fire thousands of federal workers, a close chronicler of Musk’s follies explains why the public backlash against him and Tesla matters so much—and what’s coming next.
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Elon Musk in Washington, D.C., on January 20
