Musk announces return of DOGE employee who quit over racist social media posts
Earlier in the day, both Trump and Vance expressed that the staffer should return.
TroibNews 
Elon Musk announced on Friday that he would reinstate a DOGE staff member who had resigned after being associated with racist comments online.
“To err is human, to forgive divine,” Musk stated on X, in response to Vice President JD Vance's remarks. Vance expressed that while he “obviously disagree[d] with some of [the staffer’s] posts,” he did not believe “stupid social media activity should ruin a kid’s life.”
“I’m with the vice president,” Trump asserted during a press conference on Friday.
Marko Elez stepped down on Thursday after a Wall Street Journal investigation revealed links between him and a deleted social media account on X, as confirmed by the White House. The account, formerly known as @nullllptr and @marko_elez, claimed to be a former employee at Starlink and SpaceX. According to the Journal's findings, one post stated, “You could not pay me to marry outside of my ethnicity,” and another post from July reportedly declared, “I was racist before it was cool.”
On Friday morning, Musk initiated a poll on X to gauge public opinion on reinstating Elez. The poll garnered over 385,000 votes, with around 78 percent in favor of bringing Elez back.
This development occurs as Musk's DOGE aims to reduce the federal workforce. In this context, DOGE operatives have gained access to sensitive tools, raising concerns among some lawmakers about potential legal overreach by DOGE.
Elez, who recently became a special government employee in the U.S. Treasury, was among two DOGE agents who accessed the agency's sensitive payment systems, according to Justice Department attorney Bradley Humphreys. However, he noted that these operatives did not share any of this information with non-Treasury officials, to the knowledge of the Department of Justice.
On Friday afternoon, Rep. Ro Khanna responded to Vance's post, questioning whether he would advise Elez to apologize for stating “Normalize Indian hate” prior to the potential rehire, citing concerns “for the sake of both of our kids.” Vance’s wife, Usha, is of Indian descent.
“For the sake of both our kids?” Vance fired back. “You disgust me.”
Sanya Singh for TROIB News
“To err is human, to forgive divine,” Musk stated on X, in response to Vice President JD Vance's remarks. Vance expressed that while he “obviously disagree[d] with some of [the staffer’s] posts,” he did not believe “stupid social media activity should ruin a kid’s life.”
“I’m with the vice president,” Trump asserted during a press conference on Friday.
Marko Elez stepped down on Thursday after a Wall Street Journal investigation revealed links between him and a deleted social media account on X, as confirmed by the White House. The account, formerly known as @nullllptr and @marko_elez, claimed to be a former employee at Starlink and SpaceX. According to the Journal's findings, one post stated, “You could not pay me to marry outside of my ethnicity,” and another post from July reportedly declared, “I was racist before it was cool.”
On Friday morning, Musk initiated a poll on X to gauge public opinion on reinstating Elez. The poll garnered over 385,000 votes, with around 78 percent in favor of bringing Elez back.
This development occurs as Musk's DOGE aims to reduce the federal workforce. In this context, DOGE operatives have gained access to sensitive tools, raising concerns among some lawmakers about potential legal overreach by DOGE.
Elez, who recently became a special government employee in the U.S. Treasury, was among two DOGE agents who accessed the agency's sensitive payment systems, according to Justice Department attorney Bradley Humphreys. However, he noted that these operatives did not share any of this information with non-Treasury officials, to the knowledge of the Department of Justice.
On Friday afternoon, Rep. Ro Khanna responded to Vance's post, questioning whether he would advise Elez to apologize for stating “Normalize Indian hate” prior to the potential rehire, citing concerns “for the sake of both of our kids.” Vance’s wife, Usha, is of Indian descent.
“For the sake of both our kids?” Vance fired back. “You disgust me.”
Sanya Singh for TROIB News
