Out gay Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA) recently called Elon Musk “toxic” and “the most unlikable person in this country” adding that Musk “can’t even go and play video games anymore because the people that he’s playing with are all harassing him,” a reference to a recent incident in which online commenters repeatedly insulted Musk while the transphobic billionaire’s live-streamed his playing of Path of Exile 2, an action role-playing video game.
Garcia made his comments this week as Democrats publicly demanded that the president confirm Musk’s departure from the White House by May 30. Musk is classified as a “special government employee” (SGE), an official designation that is only supposed to last 130 days of a year. Since Musk has been working in the White House since the president’s January 20 inauguration, that date is May 30.
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Speaking to reporters, Democrats criticized Musk for eliminating the funding and workforces of vital government agencies and spoke of his massive conflicts of interest questions as an SGE since several of his companies benefit from large government contracts, The Hill reported.
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“Considering the repeated violations of the law by Musk and your administration, we demand an immediate public statement from your administration making clear that Musk will resign and surrender all decision-making authority, as required by law, by May 30th,” 77 Democratic lawmakers wrote in a letter to the president on Wednesday.
“In his short time in government, Elon Musk has done enormous harm to working Americans,” the letter continued, adding, “While millions of Americans are suffering, Musk is continuing to enrich himself and break ethics laws.”
During Democratic comments to reporters, Garcia said, “There’s no question that since Wisconsin, Elon Musk himself knows that he is becoming a more toxic brand.” He was referencing the April 1 Wisconsin Supreme Court election.
Musk endorsed conservative judge Brad Schimel, spending $20 million to get him elected, which included giving two people a $1 million prize for voting in the election.
Democrats highlighted Musk’s attempts to financially influence the outcome, and the election became somewhat of a referendum on voters’ feelings about him. In the end, Musk lost, and progressive Judge Susan Crawford won the 10-year seat by a more comfortable than expected margin.
Garcia continued to criticize Musk, saying, “I mean, the man can’t even go and play video games anymore because the people that he’s playing with are all harassing him online, and so he is himself feeling more and more isolated.”
Garcia was referencing an April 5 incident in which online commenters trolled Musk during his video game livestream on X. Musk played a game called Path of Exile 2, which allegedly served as an “airborne continuity test” of SpaceX’s Starlink on board his private jet, Futurism reported.
During the live stream, Musk repeatedly lost while fighting the game’s first boss. Viewers also repeatedly left comments like, ”Dumb and ugly,” “You ruined the country just like you ruined all your marriages,” “Please pay your child support,” ”You have no friends and will die alone,” “Elon, deep down you will always be cringe no matter how much money or power you have,” “Trans rights!” and “Make it clap for daddy” (a request to make his buttocks “clap” while twerking).
At one point, Musk commented, “There’s a lot of r*tards in the chat.” He eventually ragequit about 30 minutes into the livestream. In January, gamers roasted Musk when it became apparent that he paid someone else to level up his video game character to make it seem like he is more of a dedicated gamer than he actually is.
After repeatedly dying to the game's first boss, he rage quit roughly 30 minutes into the stream. Because he didn't turn off chat, he saw a barrage of "You're dumb and ugly," "You will die alone," and "Trans rights are Human rights."https://t.co/UqpkZAPwfJ pic.twitter.com/orMNxVu85r
— Siobhan (@mshavisham) April 8, 2025
Garcia continued, “[Musk is] posting less on X, he’s distancing himself a little bit more from the administration. And I think that he understands that he’s the most unlikable person in this country.”
A recent national poll by Marquette University Law School found that 58% of respondents disapprove of his work in the federal government. Another CNN poll found that Musk had a net favorability rating of -19% among respondents.
Musk has been considered an increasing political liability for the president. Both he and the president have said that he will leave the White House to focus on his other businesses, but it’s likely that Americans will continue to disapprove of his work as decimated federal agencies fail to serve the American public as they used to.
Garcia: The man can't even go and play video games anymore because the people he's playing with are harassing him. And I think that he understands that he's the most unlikable person in this country
— Acyn (@acyn.bsky.social) April 10, 2025 at 6:45 PM
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