Democrats mock 'Vice President Trump' as they claim Elon Musk is really in charge

Democrats are mockingly referring to Donald Trump as 'vice president' after his political pal Elon Musk took the lead in tanking a government funding bill that has the nation on the verge of a shutdown.

Musk posted more than 100 times on the X platform he owns Wednesday, whipping up MAGA opposition to the bipartisan bill negotiated by Speaker Mike Johnson to fund the government through March.

In just one of his missives, Musk wrote that any lawmaker who voted for it 'deserves to be voted out.' It was dead by the end of the day.  

'Democrats and Republicans spent months negotiating a bipartisan agreement to fund our government. The richest man on Earth, President Elon Musk, doesn’t like it. Will Republicans kiss the ring?' wrote Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent who caucuses with Democrats.

'It’s clear who’s in charge, and it’s not President-elect Donald Trump,” wrote progressive Rep. Parmila Jayapal (D-Wash.), adding her own moniker. 'Shadow President Elon Musk spent all day railing against Republicans’ CR, succeeded in killing the bill, and then Trump decided to follow his lead.”

Underlining the sentiment Trump's opponents tried to exploit, Musk's flurry of posts came hours before Trump and Vice President-elect J.D. Vance unloaded on the deal in a joint statement. Vance had been in the Capitol meeting with lawmakers. 

'Look, President Musk this morning made it clear with all this vast government experience which is basically he became rich off the federal government – that he doesn't want Republicans to pass this,' said former GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger, who served on the House January 6 committee that Trump referenced in his statement opposing the bill.

'Seemingly Vice President Trump kind of backed him up then at that point. And what it says about the politics is this is going to be a messy four years,' he told CNN– poking at a well-established narrative that Trump does not like to be upstaged.

'I think that President Elon has made it clear what his agenda for the next four years,' said the former Illinois lawmaker.

Longtime Democratic strategist David Axlerod  pointed to different approaches in statements by Musk and Trump, with Trump demanding Congress raise the debt ceiling before he takes office, and later saying the statutory debt ceiling should be eliminated altogether. Musk tweeted that Congress should essentially shut down until Trump takes office. 'No bills should be passed Congress until Jan 20, when @realDonaldTrump takes office. None. Zero,' wrote Musk.

'They seem to be saying different things, and eventually they're going to have to get together and decide who the president is.'

'Let's just level set this: everyone who's watching this should strap on their seat belts, because this is what the next four years are going to be like. And Speaker Johnson ought to be strapping on his parachute,' he said.

'It’s pretty clear that they were about to pass the bill, and Musk intervened, and Trump followed him. And now we’re headed into this crisis period,' he added.

Musk, who Trump named to go lead his 'Department on Government Efficiency' battled the bill with memes, including one of him about to slice the bill with a sword.

His first post came at 4:15 am when he wrote that 'This bill should not pass.' 

Musk followed up, writing: 'Any member of the House or Senate who votes for this outrageous spending bill deserves to be voted out in 2 years!'

'Please call your elected representatives right away to tell them how you feel' he added.

 Also making the dig was Georgia Democratic Rep. Hank Johnson. 

'Wow! Rather than serving the people who elected them by keeping the government open through the holidays, MAGA Musk Republicans have chosen to follow President-Elect Musk’s order to SHUT IT DOWN!' he posted.

It wasn't until 13 hours after Musk's high-tech lobbying campaign that Trump weighed in against the 1,547-page bill, which included billions for disaster relief, a 3.8 percent pay increase for lawmakers in 2025, relief for farmers, and other provisions.

'Republicans must get smart and tough,' the Trump and Vance statement said. 'If Democrats threaten to shut down the government unless we give them everything they want, then call their bluff.'

The Republican duo also signaled how they want Johnson to proceed, indicating they want a 'clean CR,' a bill without extra policy riders like disaster relief, money to combat growing Chinese influence, and raises for members of Congress that are in the current version.

'We should pass a streamlined spending bill that doesn’t give Chuck Schumer and the Democrats everything they want,' Trump and Vance said. 

Trump, in another post, threatened those who vote against a clean CR, saying, 'Any Republican that would be so stupid as to do this should, and will, be primaried.'