Soon after the House on Friday night voted to advance a massive spending package and avoid a government shutdown (at least until March), CNN’s hosts and anchors targeted Elon Musk as the instigator of the “chaos,” “panic” and “madness” because he “threw a grenade” and “torpedoed” the backroom deal reached earlier in the week.
“It was Elon Musk who first upended this process,” charged fill-in host Sara Sidner on Erin Burnett OutFront soon after 7pm ET. “It was Musk who began the panic and helped blow up a bipartisan agreement that was about to pass,” she insisted later in the same show.
“Donald Trump and Elon Musk threw a grenade into a bipartisan deal to keep the government open,” NewsNight host Abby Phillip argued a few hours later. Both Sidner and Phillip opted to display fake A.I.-generated images, created by Democratic mischief-makers, of Musk as king and Trump as his court jester.
During the 11pm ET hour, host Laura Coates chose to bring in longtime Musk critic Kara Swisher, who determined the entire episode was a waste of time. She said of Musk, “He couldn’t be satisfied. He just created a disaster and a mess, and it didn’t change anything.”
During OutFront, Sidner also ticked off a list of what she said were false statements Musk had posted on X regarding the original spending package. She also pointed out how Musk was “riling some German lawmakers” by endorsing the AfD (Alternative for Germany) party which, Sidner explained, “one of its regional leaders has been convicted of using Nazi rhetoric.”
For good measure, she also brought aboard Tesla shareholder Ross Gerber to complain about how Musk was ignoring his day job. “While he’s running the government,” Sidner snarked, “he’s being criticized for neglecting his day job as Tesla’s CEO.”
Add it all up, and it reflects an obvious editorial decision by CNN to target Musk as the culprit behind the two-day kerfuffle over government funding.
Here are transcripts of some of the key moments in CNN’s primetime coverage on Friday, December 20, 2024 (click expand to read them all):
# CNN’s Erin Burnett OutFront
Fill-in host SARA SIDNER: The House voting to pass a last minute spending bill, just a few hours before a government shutdown would have gone into effect. Now it’s the Senate’s turn. It comes after two days of sheer chaos, spurred on by [the] President-elect and his unelected buddy....[montage of Democrats referring to “President Musk”] It was Elon Musk who first upended this process, furiously tweeting his opposition to the spending bill after a bipartisan deal was in place, the result of months of negotiations between both parties.
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SIDNER: The image of Musk as the one running the show, also being reinforced tonight on social media in ways Trump will likely not enjoy. This is A.I.-generated images of Musk as a puppeteer, pulling Trump’s strings, and [from] Democratic Congressman Mark Pocan, one of Musk as king there, and Trump in the court jester outfit there. How long before all of this gets under Donald Trumps skin?
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SIDNER: Musk pushed, repeatedly, false claims online. This is just a few of them, and we’ll lay them out for you. He said that the initial bill had a 40 percent pay hike for lawmakers. Totally false. It was less than 4 percent. Also claimed, quote, we’re funding bio weapon labs in this bill. Again, not true. And Musk retweeted a false claim that the bill included $3 billion for a new NFL stadium in D.C. — again, false. It only transferred control of RFK stadium to the D.C. government. All are still online, even though they’ve been repeatedly pointed out as being false by many different outlets. So was Musk gullible enough to fall for these false claims, or is this purposeful? Because he knows a lot of people are not going to go check up on him, especially those who follow and believe in him.
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SIDNER: Tonight, Elon Musk, on the heels of helping cause chaos in Congress that almost led to a government shutdown, he is now riling some German lawmakers by endorsing Germany’s far right political party in the upcoming election. Posting on X ‘only the AfD can save Germany.’ The German government has deemed AfD an extremist group. One of its regional leaders has been convicted of using Nazi rhetoric in Germany. The party takes a hard line on immigration. They are anti-immigration.
It comes as the U.S. federal government just narrowly avoided a shutdown. It was Musk who began the panic and helped blow up a bipartisan agreement that was about to pass. And while he’s running the government, he’s being criticized for neglecting his day job as Tesla’s CEO. One of those critics is my next guest, Ross Gerber, president and CEO of Gerber Kawasaki and a long time major Tesla investor....
# CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360Fill-in host JIM SCIUTTO: Tonight on 360, two days after Elon Musk and Donald Trump torpedoed a bipartisan bill to pay for everything from air traffic controllers to disaster relief to the troops, and just hours before a government shutdown, House Republicans finally agree on a bill that can pass.
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SCIUTTO: Inside the Republican caucus, you see the disruptive capability of someone like Elon Musk with a single tweet. Is this a taste of what it is going to be like under Republican management as we begin the New Year?
# NewsNight with Abby PhillipHost ABBY PHILLIP: After Donald Trump and Elon Musk threw a grenade into the bipartisan deal to keep the government open, Congress is about to get its act together and avoid a shutdown.
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Former GOP Congressman CHARLIE DENT: There’s going to be a collision here between Donald Trump and Elon Musk. Elon Musk got way out in front of Donald Trump on this continuing resolution agreement. And, basically, Musk kneecapped Speaker Johnson, and Trump gave an assist. So, I have to think that, you know, Donald Trump can’t be too happy that Musk is trying to dictate how the Congress should operate.
PHILLIP: But he went along with it.
DENT: Well, he did. I mean, I can’t imagine he’s happy about this, though. He was kind of pushed aside. He was late to the parade in this case. But my question is was Elon Musk going rogue, or was he given direction? I got the sense he was going rogue. There are a lot of unhappy people about this whole circumstance.
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PHILLIP: “Take a look at this. This is what Democrats are doing to troll Elon Musk. This is an A.I.-generated image of Musk sitting at the king’s throne, and Trump as the jester.
# Laura Coates Live
Host LAURA COATES: Well, one of the men who played a key role in the madness we’ve seen on Capitol Hill this week received no votes and doesn’t even hold a government office. Of course, you know, I’m talking about Elon Musk, right? In an early test of his political might, the tech billionaire helped torpedo the original spending bill put forth by House Speaker Mike Johnson just earlier this week. Musk, then taking a kind of a victory lap tonight after the House passed their scaled down version, posting on X, ‘The Speaker did a good job here, given the circumstances. It went from a bill that weighed pounds to a bill that weighed ounces. Ball should now be in the Dem court.’
Well, joining me now to discuss, CNN contributor and podcast host Kara Swisher. So good to see you, my friend. Look, he must be pretty satisfied with himself and the spending bill tonight on X. I mean, how do you think he’s reacting behind the scenes?
CNN contributor KARA SWISHER: Oh, he couldn’t be satisfied. He just created a disaster and a mess, and it didn’t change anything. I mean, it’s fine. Okay, the paperwork is lighter. I don’t know what to say — ‘Good for you, great job, we saved money on paper.’? But in general, there was no spending changes. Created a lot of chaos. I think it weakened Speaker Johnson, obviously, and even Donald Trump because they look chaotic once again. And, you know, Elon always says, you know — to me, every accusation is a confession with these people, like, he says he wins, and I don’t think he won.
