Vivek Ramaswamy Once Called Elon Musk Something Truly Heinous

Jeez, man.

Circus Monkey

Now that president-elect Donald Trump's proud new spiritual godsons Tesla CEO Elon Musk and failed presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy have been put in charge of the mysterious and largely symbolic Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), the pair have become the best of pals.

But their relationship — much like Musk and Trump's — has been rocky in the past, to say the least.

As Rolling Stone reports, Ramaswamy has repeatedly lashed out at Musk, accusing him of being a puppet of the Chinese government in a popular talking point among Republicans.

During a 2023 podcast appearance, the pharmaceutical company founder said "I think Tesla is increasingly beholden to China."

"I have no reason to think Elon won’t jump like a circus monkey when [Chinese president] Xi Jinping calls in the hour of need," he added at the time.

Shots Fired

Problematic name-calling aside, Ramaswamy likely isn't too far from the truth. Tesla has established a strong presence in China, opening a factory in Shanghai back in 2018.

Musk has even gone so far as to imply that Taiwan should simply give up and "reunite" with China during an event last year, echoing his sentiment that Russia should annex parts of Ukraine.

During a separate podcast appearance last year, Ramaswamy accused Musk of having gotten a "nice 'attaboy'… a little pat on the back when his Shanghai factory and regulator in China gave him a nice little tax break within days after him having made that comment about Taiwan."

Ramaswamy also uploaded an attack ad on X-formerly-Twitter accusing Musk of being deep in the pockets of the Chinese Communist Party after meeting with the country's foreign minister.

"The crusader for 'free speech' (Elon Musk) kisses the ring of the world’s biggest censor: Xi Jinping," Ramaswamy wrote in a scathing tweet in June 2023.

But now that the unlikely pair have been joined at the hip to lead DOGE, their relationship already looks dramatically different, suggesting that either Ramaswamy's previous comments weren't much more than pandering to right-wing lawmakers, or that he has no moral core.

Case in point, earlier this week, Ramaswamy promised that the so-called "department" would investigate Tesla's rivals, who received financial support for building two battery factories in Indinia from the Biden administration — while Tesla didn't.

"DOGE will carefully scrutinize every one of these questionable 11th-hour transactions, starting on Jan 20," Ramaswamy tweeted, throwing his weight behind Musk and his EV maker.

Whether the pair will be able to get even close to slashing a promised $2 trillion in government spending through their new government venture — which will be an entirely advisory body that will operate from outside of the US government — remains to be seen.

But chances are that sparks will continue to fly regardless as the two vie for attention.

More on the pair: Experts Say Elon Musk's Ridiculous "DOGE" Initiative Could Actually Crush Innovation