According to a NewsBusters study, ABC, CBS, and NBC’s coverage of Elon Musk’s budget-cutting efforts at DOGE was 97 percent negative, but on Wednesday, their respective morning shows of Good Morning America, CBS Mornings, and Today found a strange new respect for Musk’s concerns about the deficit as they used him to undermine the Big Beautiful Bill recently passed by the House.
ABC’s Jay O’Brien began his report by declaring, “President Trump has been adamant he wants Republicans united behind his mega bill full of a laundry list of campaign promises. But one top ally is still not on board this morning, Elon Musk.”
The origin of all three reports was Musk sitting down with CBS Sunday Morning for an interview that will air on June 1. In a clip of that interview, Musk was shown declaring, “I was, like, disappointed to see the massive spending bill, frankly. Which increases the budget deficit, not decreases it, and undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing.”
Before a second Musk clip, O’Brien hyped, “Billionaire Elon Musk, who pledged to take a step back from politics, slamming the president’s bill, which was pushed through the Republican-led House.”
In the second video, Musk added, “I think a bill can be big or it could be beautiful, but I don't know if it could be both. My personal opinion.”
Yes, it is his opinion. Conservatives are allowed to disagree with each other whether deficit reduction or investments in border security and defense should be the priority. What is not okay is for ABC reporters to simply repeat context-free Democratic talking points, which is what O’Brien proceeded to do:
The massive budget bill includes billions to renew construction of the border wall along with billions more for defense spending and an extension of Trump’s 2017 tax cuts, which government estimates find will increase the deficit by more than $4 trillion over ten years. The bill also makes significant cuts, slashing SNAP food assistance and making changes to Medicaid that could lead to 8 million Americans losing their insurance, according to early estimates.
O’Brien left out that much of that would result from the introduction of new work requirements. Additionally, deficit projections rely on the assumption that the 2017 tax law will expire, so even if the deficit remains the same, it is spun as an increase.
As for CBS itself, CBS Mornings host Nate Burleson teed up a clip of the same set of soundbites, “The president is facing criticism from an unexpected source, billionaire Elon Musk. Musk, the DOGE chief tasked with slashing the federal government, is critical of the president's so-called Big Beautiful spending bill. Here's what he told David Pogue for CBS Sunday Morning.”
Instead of two separate Musk clips, CBS chose to use them to sandwich a bit of commentary from Pogue, who observed, “I actually thought that when this Big Beautiful Bill came along, everything he's done on DOGE gets wiped out in the first year.”
Meanwhile, over at Today, Peter Alexander observed how Musk is “putting some distance between himself and President Trump. Musk speaking out about his time leading the Department of Government Efficiency, criticizing the president's new spending bill.”
After the clip where Musk claimed to be disappointed in the bill, Alexander added that, “President Trump’s been pushing Congress to pass what he calls the One Big Beautiful Bill which includes cuts to programs like Medicaid, but boosts spending in areas like defense.”
Following the second video where Musk wondered if “big” and “beautiful” were contradictory, Alexander concluded the Musk portion of his report by claiming that “Musk has been a top Trump ally… Regularly by the president's side, appearing at cabinet meetings while his DOGE team overhauled the federal government, but Musk now tells the Washington Post that ‘DOGE is just becoming the whipping boy for everything’ and saying that changing D.C. is an uphill battle.”
When Musk was running DOGE on a more full time basis, the media did everything they could to portray him as some sort of heartless monster, but now that he is spending more time away from government, his concerns about the Big Beautiful Bill are treated as a perfectly natural response to high deficits because it would undermine Trump’s second-term legacy.
Here are transcripts of the May 28 shows:
ABC Good Morning America
5/28/2025
7:07 AM ET
JAY O’BRIEN: President Trump has been adamant he wants Republicans united behind his mega bill full of a laundry list of campaign promises. But one top ally is still not on board this morning, Elon Musk.
Overnight, President Trump's biggest ally coming out against his recent legislative victory.
ELON MUSK: I was, like, disappointed to see the massive spending bill, frankly. Which increases the budget deficit, not decrease it, and undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing.
O’BRIEN: Billionaire Elon Musk, who pledged to take a step back from politics, slamming the president’s bill, which was pushed through the Republican-led House.
MUSK: I think a bill can be big or it could be beautiful, but I don't know if it could be both. My personal opinion.
O’BRIEN: For days, Musk has hinted at his discontent with the GOP bill, but his latest comments underscoring division within the Republican Party over their own signature legislation. The massive budget bill includes billions to renew construction of the border wall along with billions more for defense spending and an extension of Trump’s 2017 tax cuts, which government estimates find will increase the deficit by more than $4 trillion over ten years. The bill also makes significant cuts, slashing SNAP food assistance and making changes to Medicaid that could lead to 8 million Americans losing their insurance, according to early estimates.
Now, Trump’s massive legislative package is now in the hands of the Senate where Republicans are expected to make significant changes and then send it back to the House. So the GOP infighting over this bill is far from over, Robin.
***
CBS Mornings
5/28/2025
7:13 AM ET
NATE BURLESON: The president is facing criticism from an unexpected source, billionaire Elon Musk. Musk, the DOGE chief tasked with slashing the federal government, is critical of the president's so-called Big Beautiful spending bill. Here's what he told David Pogue for CBS Sunday Morning.
ELON MUSK: So, you know, I was, like, disappointed to see the massive spending bill, frankly. Which increases the budget deficit, not decrease it, and undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing.
DAVID POGUE: I actually thought that when this Big Beautiful Bill came along, everything he's done on DOGE gets wiped out in the first year.
MUSK: I think a bill can be big or it could be beautiful, but I don't know if it could be both. My personal opinion.
***
NBC Today
5/28/2025
7:05 AM ET
PETER ALEXANDER: But he's also putting some distance between himself and President Trump. Musk speaking out about his time leading the Department of Government Efficiency, criticizing the president's new spending bill.
ELON MUSK: So, you know, I was, like, disappointed to see the massive spending bill, frankly. Which increases the budget deficit, not decrease it, and undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing.
ALEXANDER: President Trump’s been pushing Congress to pass what he calls the One Big Beautiful Bill which includes cuts to programs like Medicaid, but boosts spending in areas like defense.
MUSK: I think a bill can be big or it could be beautiful, but I don't know if it could be both.
ALEXANDER: Musk has been a top Trump ally.
DONALD TRUMP: He is an exceptional guy.
ALEXANDER: Regularly by the president's side, appearing at cabinet meetings while his DOGE team overhauled the federal government, but Musk now tells the Washington Post that “DOGE is just becoming the whipping boy for everything” and saying that changing D.C. is an uphill battle.
