Elon Musk held a press conference in the White House’s Oval Office two weeks ago with his son, X Æ A-12, by his side. While there, the child told the United States’ president to “go away” – echoing about half of the American people’s prayers.
After Trump interrupted one of Elon’s responses, the four-year-old left his father’s side, approached Trump, and leaned in to tell him “You need to shush your mouth. You are not the president.” There is no better way to drive home the pecking order between the POTUS, the CEO of Tesla, and the four-year-old son of a man worth over 400 billion USD.
Fears that Musk bought his way into the White House and is now acting as the president while Trump plays golf elsewhere have spread widely since Musk was appointed to two economic advisory councils in 2016. After Trump’s loss in 2020, the two stayed in touch, with Musk referring to himself as Trump’s “tech support.” One of the first decisions Trump made in his second term was to make the X CEO “senior advisor to the President.” With this authority, Musk is apparently permitted to perform press conferences in the Oval Office. A privilege which, prior to 2025, was reserved for the president alone.
Barely two months into Trump’s term, and Musk has already blown through the original limitations of his position. How far he can stretch this power is yet to be seen. Does Musk have more power than the vice-president? How much of this power comes from his appointed role and how much is bought by his billions? Has anyone actually seen J.D. Vance since Trump’s inauguration? What does he spend his days doing now that Musk has made himself Trump’s right hand man? Crying?
The Tesla CEO isn’t the only one of Trump’s new appointees to make headlines. The confirmation hearing for Robert F. Kennedy Junior (RFK Jr.) to be sworn in has been making headlines for the last two weeks. This event offered US senators a chance to vote on whether Trump’s pick would be sworn in.
The hearing spanned over two days and lasted over four hours. Many senators criticized Kennedy’s track record, questioning his competence as Secretary of Health based on his past statements, such as:
2013: “To me, [mandatory vaccinations for children] is like Nazi death camps. […] I can’t tell you why somebody would do something like that. I can’t tell you why ordinary Germans participated in the Holocaust.”
2021: “A hundred percent of the people who died — the first thousand who had AIDS — were people who were addicted to ‘poppers’ […] They were people who were part of a gay lifestyle, where they were burning the candle at both ends.”
2021: “We should not be giving Black people the same vaccine schedule that’s given to Whites because their immune system is better than ours.”
2023: “COVID-19 is targeted to attack Caucasians and Black People, the people who are most immune are Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese.”
2023: “I do believe that autism does come from vaccines.”
At the hearing, Bernie Sanders questioned how RFK Jr. can claim to be pro-vaccine while selling baby onesies that read “Unvaxxed Unafraid” online, as part of his company known as the “Children’s Health Defense.” The website sells merchandise and publishes articles on theoretical “dangers” of vaccines. Some of their most recent headlines are “‘Earth-rattling’: COVID Vaccines Linked to 113% Higher Risk of Underactive Thyroid” and “Pfizer Vaccine From ‘Highly Lethal Batch’ Likely Caused Man’s Death 555 Days Later.” Kennedy stepped down as the organization’s chairman in 2023 to begin his run for president. Prior to that, he was making over 20,000 USD a week from the website.
“Your organization is making money selling a child’s product to parents for 26 bucks, which casts fundamental doubt on the usefulness of vaccines. […] Now that you are pro-vaccine, will you have your organization take these products down?” Sanders asked.
“I’m supportive of vaccines,” RFK Jr. responded.
The onesies are, of course, still for sale – with versions reading “No Vax, No Problems” being sold, despite the fact that over two-thirds of the American children who died of COVID-19 from 2020-2022 were unvaccinated.
Skeptics have also questioned RFK Jr.’s alleged stance on vaccinations based on his response to the prompt, “What would you do if you could go back in time?”
“I would avoid giving my children the vaccines I gave them,” Kennedy said. “I would do anything for that. I would pay anything to be able to do that.”
This has to be the most wasteful use of a time machine ever uttered on camera.
Despite mountains of evidence to the contrary, Kennedy states that he has never made any racist or antisemitic remarks. He also claims that he’s not, and never has been, anti-vaccine, referring to his beliefs as “pro-safety” instead.
After the confirmation hearing, RFK Jr. was successfully sworn in with 52 senatorial votes in his favour and 48 against. With his position secured, Trump states he’s going to “let him [RFK Jr.] go wild on health. I’m going to let him go wild on the food. I’m going to let him go wild on the medicines.”
Kennedy’s new platform will allow him to spread conspiracies stating that there are links between vaccinations and autism, water quality and queerness, and antidepressants and school shooters. It is no accident that Kennedy separates the “Jews” from the “Caucasians,” and that he preaches categorical biological differences between races. These beliefs will have serious social and legislative consequences for all minorities targeted. What exactly RFK Jr. will accomplish with free rein is anyone’s guess, but it’s safe to assume it will cost thousands of citizens their lives.
What Kennedy and Musk have in common is a place in the President’s Cabinet and the privileges that go along with it. This power gives both men the ability to market whatever conspiracies or businesses they so choose. That is how the White House’s platform, a nation-wide stage that can be bought through funds or theories alike, is utilized to its most effective degree. Trump has given this power to men intending to spread misinformation like the plague, and the resulting injustice will put forward policies that take America back decades in the span of four years.