'Fake News': Karoline Leavitt Calls Report About Elon Musk 'Garbage'

Earlier Wednesday, I saw a “scoop” by the left-leaning outlet Politico that claimed Elon Musk was on the outs with Team Trump and was departing the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) within days. “Whoa,” I thought, “that’s big.” I also admit to feeling a little deflated because despite Musk’s being considered by many to be “controversial,” I was quite enjoying watching him take a chainsaw to government waste, fraud and abuse to the tune of billions of dollars.

As I looked into it, though, I realized they were using three anonymous sources, and I could find no other corroboration. Also, Musk has appeared to be thoroughly enjoying his role and seemed to have the full support of President Trump. True, the Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate the SpaceX CEO heavily backed lost Tuesday night to a leftist jurist who many feel will jerry-rig districts to kneecap the GOP, but that didn’t seem enough for Trump to suddenly fire him or for Elon to run away with his tail between his legs.

Plus, Musk is a “special government employee,” which has a 130-day time limit, meaning he was scheduled to go back to business life at the end May anyway.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt was thoroughly unimpressed with the report:

This “scoop” is garbage.

Elon Musk and President Trump have both *publicly* stated that Elon will depart from public service as a special government employee when his incredible work at DOGE is complete. https://t.co/Brppff6SKi
— Karoline Leavitt (@PressSec) April 2, 2025

Another WH spokesman nuked the outlet for publishing “fake news”:

"Politico has become a tabloid paper that would rather run fake news for clicks than real reporting," White House spokesman Harrison Fields told Fox Digital Wednesday of Politico's report. "This is exactly why President Trump and DOGE have terminated millions of dollars in wasteful, government contracts to so-called news organizations that have diminished their credibility with the American people."

Politico had good reason to go after Musk and DOGE, as RedState’s Bonchie reported in February:

According to recently revealed records, left-leaning news outlet Politico received over thirty-four million dollars from USAID and other government agencies. That money went to pay for "subscriptions" for various bureaucratic officials, including "pro" subscriptions that add up to over $10,000 a pop.

Having been in the media business, I would wonder how many of these outlets are staying in business.

Now it makes perfect sense.

USAID funds to Politico 👇🏻 pic.twitter.com/ChncqWwbNZ
— Jason Howerton (@jason_howerton) February 5, 2025

Let's Untangle the Inappropriate Financial Deals Between the Federal Gov't., Politico, and Other Outlets

Many in the press have been making absolute fools out of themselves as a result of Elon Derangement Syndrome and TDS. (See “60 Minutes” anchor Lesley Stahl pose a jaw-dropping question to a freed Hamas hostage Sunday night). Special Envoy Richard Grenell blasted Politico Wednesday for a different report:

Who at @politico wrote “bomb-hurling” to describe a Muslim being appointed as Trump’s U.S. Attorney in Southern California?

I just wrote to Mathias Döpfner asking who wrote this and who approved this language.

This is unacceptable but unsurprising because the entire California… pic.twitter.com/77d9Tj6tCI
— Richard Grenell (@RichardGrenell) April 2, 2025

Grenell's tweet continues:

This is unacceptable but unsurprising because the entire California Playbook team are advocates for the super majority in Sacramento.
But this attack crosses the line. It isn’t journalism. And someone needs to be held to account.

Yes, Elon Musk is scheduled to leave DOGE—that was always the case. According to the White House, however, it isn’t happening now, and it isn’t because they’re unsatisfied with his performance. Of course, it's possible that Politico knows something that we don't and will be vindicated in the end. According to Karoline Leavitt, however, they got this one wrong.

Elon Musk and DOGE are bringing much-needed accountability to our out-of-control bureaucracy as they take a chainsaw to rampant waste, fraud, and abuse.

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