Elon Musk concluded his 130-day role as a 'special government employee' with a black eye. He explained the injury was caused by his five-year-old son, X, who playfully punched him.
The incident occurred during an odd press conference where Musk refused to answer a question about a New York Times report on his drug use. President Trump, present at the conference, found the explanation amusing.
The article humorously speculates on other potential causes for the black eye, given Musk's various controversies. The list includes:
However, the 5-year-old son's playful punch was the officially stated cause.
Musk left Washington, his bruised eye mirroring his possibly bruised ego, stating that he didn't initially feel much pain from the punch.
It was like metaphor turned reality.
After 130 days spent fighting the federal government, Elon Musk turned up with a black eye at the White House on Friday for his last day as a “special government employee.” If you squinted, you could see it: His right eye socket was puffy and empurpled. No doubt about it, that was a big, fat shiner.
His project in Washington more or less finished, he never came close to cutting the $1 trillion from the federal government he had promised. His businesses and his public image got somewhat battered, and now, apparently, so had his face.
Did somebody beat him up?
The list of possible suspects seemed long. An abridged lineup of people and constituencies currently unhappy with Mr. Musk includes: at least two of the many women with whom he has fathered children; pretty much the entire federal bureaucracy; his neighbors in a suburb of Austin, Texas; Tesla shareholders; old friends of his; Republicans on Capitol Hill; his 20-year-old daughter; all those people who have lit Teslas on fire; and even some Trump voters.
But it wasn’t any of those people who gave him the black eye. It was, he said, his progeny X, age 5.
“I was just horsing around with little X, and I said, ‘Go ahead, punch me in the face,’ and he did,” Mr. Musk explained after a reporter asked him if he was OK.
It was an odd moment in a news conference that was quite odd to begin with. Moments earlier, Mr. Musk had angrily refused to engage with a question put to him about a new report in The New York Times detailing his drug use. Mr. Trump remained mostly mute as Mr. Musk batted back that question. Now the tech mogul was explaining why he looked beaten up.
The president seemed to find this rather amusing. “I didn’t notice,” he said as he turned in his seat to get a better look at Mr. Musk. “That was X that did that?”
Mr. Trump has spent a considerable amount of time around the little slugger over these last 130 days. He and Mr. Musk have even brought the child to sit ringside with them at Ultimate Fighting Championship matches. Mr. Trump thought about the explanation that was being offered for the black eye. “X could do it,” he concluded, sounding almost impressed. “If you knew X, he could do it.” The way the president said this, you’d never guess he was talking about a 5-year-old.
And so, Mr. Musk left Washington, his eye as bruised as his ego.
“I didn’t really feel much at the time,” he said about being punched in the face, “but then I guess it bruises up.”
If you often open multiple tabs and struggle to keep track of them, Tabs Reminder is the solution you need. Tabs Reminder lets you set reminders for tabs so you can close them and get notified about them later. Never lose track of important tabs again with Tabs Reminder!
Try our Chrome extension today!
Share this article with your
friends and colleagues.
Earn points from views and
referrals who sign up.
Learn more