Tech billionaire Elon Musk, a close adviser to President Trump, said his life was in danger over his heavy involvement in the administration and some may want him dead because he is “stopping their fraud.”
Musk, who was originally tapped by Trump late last year to head up the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), told Fox News’s Sean Hannity Tuesday night that “when you take away people’s … fraud, the money they’re receiving fraudulently, they get very upset, and they basically want to kill me because I’m stopping their fraud.”
He added, “And they want to hurt Tesla because we’re stopping this terrible waste and corruption in the government. And, well, I guess they’re bad people. Bad people do bad things.”
DOGE, which has seemingly taken on new leadership, has led the administration’s moves to combat “waste and fraud,” as well as identify abuse among various government programs. The controversial advisory group has also worked with the president to overhaul the federal workforce.
The commission has probed various federal departments and agencies, ranging from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to the U.S. Institute of Peace, resulting in firings of thousands of workers and withholding congressionally appropriated funds. DOGE has received heavy pushback from Democrats in Congress and has faced a bevy of legal challenges in court.
Musk said on Tuesday that government fraud is “so high” that is causing a $2 trillion annual deficit and that he is worried that the U.S. is going bankrupt due to the “corruption of waste.”