US Vice-president JD Vance has weighed in on Elon Musk’s online tirade against Donald Trump, calling the tech mogul’s behaviour a “huge mistake” but also attempting to soften the feud by describing Musk as an “emotional guy” who got frustrated.
“I hope that eventually Elon comes back into the fold. Maybe that’s not possible now because he’s gone so nuclear,” Vance said in an interview released Friday with comedian Theo Von.
Vance’s remarks follow a string of heated and now-deleted posts by Musk, who accused Trump of everything from failed tax policy to hiding ties with Jeffrey Epstein. Trump, in turn, labelled Musk “CRAZY” and hinted at cutting off federal contracts with his companies.
While acknowledging the fallout, Vance added: “I actually think if Elon chilled out a little bit, everything would be fine.”
He also dismissed Musk’s now deleted suggestion that Trump should be impeached and replaced by Vance: “It’s totally insane. The president is doing a good job.”
Defending Trump against Epstein-related accusations, Vance said: “Absolutely not. Donald Trump didn’t do anything wrong with Jeffrey Epstein.” He added, “This stuff is just not helpful.”
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Vance continued to praise Musk as an “incredible entrepreneur” and backed Trump’s controversial spending bill that Musk called a “disgusting abomination”. The vice-president said: “It’s a good bill. It’s not a perfect bill.”
On complaints that lawmakers hadn’t had time to read the bill, Vance said: “The idea that people haven’t had an opportunity to actually read it is ridiculous.”
The interview, taped Thursday in Nashville at Kid Rock’s restaurant, veered into unusual territory, including jokes about abolitionist Frederick Douglass and questions about drug use. When Von asked if he “got high” on election night, Vance replied, laughing, “I did not get high. I did have a fair amount to drink that night.”
