Elon Musk posted on X Friday that a staffer with his Department of Governmental Efficiency (DOGE) who resigned after racist social media posts were unearthed “will be brought back.”
Why it matters: The White House swiftly announced Marko Elez’s exit after the Wall Street Journal first reported on the blatantly racist posts, which included “normalize Indian hate” and “I was racist before it was cool.” But Vice President Vance and Musk’s online army both rallied behind Elez, and Musk has now declared that he’ll be reinstated.
Driving the news: Elez, 25, was one of Musk’s key lieutenants within DOGE. He received access to U.S. Treasury payments a day before resigning, when the Journal contacted the Trump administration about his connection to the deleted social media account that made the racist posts.
- The account associated with Elez also advocated for repealing the Civil Rights Act and supported a “eugenic immigration policy.”
- Musk posted a poll Friday asking whether he should bring Elez back, with 78% of respondents voting “yes” at time of writing.
- Vance responded to the poll by saying “I obviously disagree with some of Elez’s posts, but I don’t think stupid social media activity should ruin a kid’s life,” adding: “I say bring him back.”
Zoom in: Elez worked for Musk’s SpaceX, Starlink and X, per the Wall Street Journal. He focused on artificial intelligence.
- On Wednesday, Department of Justice lawyers agreed to give Elez and one other employee “read-only” access to Treasury data. Federal employees’ unions had sued to stop DOGE’s access to confidential data.
- The White House did not respond to Axios’ request for comment about Elez’s resignation on Thursday.
Between the lines: Elez’s reinstatement comes as Reuters reports that another DOGE employee, Gavin Kliger, has shared white supremacist content on social media.
- Kliger, a computer scientist, reposted content from white supremacist Nick Fuentes and self-proclaimed misogynist Andrew Tate.
@Axios, excluding headline
