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Musk, a chainsaw and an adoring crowd

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The Big Story

Musk's rock star chainsaw moment at CPAC

Tech billionaire Elon Musk was one of the main attractions at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) this week, embracing a "meme" look as he doubled down on the Department of Government Efficiency's (DOGE) efforts.

© Greg Nash

Musk’s appearance began with a bang on Thursday when Argentine President Javier Milei came out to offer the Tesla CEO the chainsaw, which Musk brandished on-stage.

His subsequent interview with Newsmax’s Rob Schmitt touched on everything from DOGE to the Russia-Ukraine war.

Like Milei, who has pledged to make sweeping cuts to Argentina’s government and has reportedly served as an inspiration for DOGE, Musk has embraced Trump’s vision to shake up the status quo in Washington.

But Musk’s appearance at CPAC also underscored the Tesla CEO’s growing influence and power within the GOP.

Musk, once a tech entrepreneur who largely stayed out of the political spotlight, appears to be embracing his newfound prominence in the U.S.

The tech billionaire donned a “rock star” look, wearing blacked-out sunglasses, a black “Make America Great Again” hat and a chain, along with a black graphic t-shirt and pants. He later quipped it was a “dark, gothic MAGA” look.


At one point he said, "I Am Become Meme" — a phrase he has repeated on his social media platform X as he embraces the humor and jokes about him on the platform. His outfit appeared to recreate a popular artificial intelligence-generated meme of him in front of a "DOGE" sign.

Musk thanked the CPAC crowd for its support, saying he is “trying to get good things done but also have a good time doing it and have a sense of humor.”

“There’s living the dream, and then there’s living the meme, and that’s pretty much what’s happening. DOGE started out as a meme,” he said, referring to the popular DOGE memecoin.

We have a full recap of his appearance at TheHill.com.

 

Welcome to The Hill’s Technology newsletter, we're Julia Shapero andMiranda Nazzaro — tracking the latest moves from Capitol Hill to Silicon Valley.

 

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