Elon Musk’s Absurd Defense of Matt Gaetz Baffles Seth Meyers
The late-night host was unconvinced by the billionaire’s take on why Gaetz would make a good attorney general.
NBC
Elon Musk is backing former Rep. Matt Gaetz’s embattled bid for attorney general—despite the ongoing backlash to his candidacy due to a host of misconduct allegations that have swirled around the Florida Republican for years.
The billionaire posted on X: “Matt Gaetz has 3 critical assets that are needed for the AG role: a big brain, a spine of steel and an axe to grind.”
In his recurring “Closer Look” segment Wednesday, Seth Meyers explained why he found the entire argument ridiculous.
“He’s got a big brain, he’s got a spine of steel, and his eyes will be wide open because he can’t close them after all the botox,” Meyers mocked, referring to rumors that spread after Gaetz’s appearance seemed altered at this summer’s Republican National Convention.
Meyers added: “If you’re the nation’s top law enforcement officer, you’re not supposed to have ‘an axe to grind.’ You wouldn’t go to a doctor whose wife left him for you.”
Meyers also laid into Democrats for not pushing back against Trump’s cabinet picks as hard as they could.
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“Musk and the other billionaires want to use government as a tool to crush their enemies, and they want to hollow out regulatory agencies because those agencies are the only constraints on their power,” Meyers said, later adding, “Democrats should be outraged about this. I’m sure we can rely on them to mount an effective and energetic opposition to the conquest of our government by billionaires."
He showed a clip of Democratic Senator Chris Coons expressing support for Musk’s appointment, saying, “This could be a constructive undertaking that ought to be embraced.”
Meyers responded: “Democrats, you can’t say you want to win back the working class but also fanboy out over the richest man alive taking a hatchet to government programs the working class depends on. You’re supposed to be the opposition.”
Meyers also blasted Trump’s decision to put TV-personality Dr. Mehmet Oz in charge of the country’s Medicaid and Medicare programs, and also criticized Democrats' response to the news.
“Oz has called for essentially privatizing Medicare by pushing all Medicare patients onto private plans and imposing a payroll tax on working people to pay for it,” Meyers said. “That’s who’s gonna run Medicare now, if there’s anything left after Musk gets his hands on it.”
Meyers concluded, “This is the exact kind of corruption and inequality people are mad about. Democrats need to counter it, not go along with it.”
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