Elon Musk is boosting a clip from his CNN fanboy Scott Jennings in which the Republican strategist passionately defended Musk amid his ongoing feud with President Donald Trump’s top trade adviser, Peter Navarro.
Musk and Navarro, the architect of Trump’s tariffs policy, have been engaged in a war of words regarding the import levies since the weekend, with the Tesla CEO descending into name-calling. Jennings has got involved and has, as expected, sided with Musk.
In his rebuke of Navarro, Jennings glossed over the fact that the Department of Government Efficiency boss used a slur to describe his opponent, dubbing him “Peter Retarrdo.”
Musk was rattled by the fact that, during an appearance Monday on CNBC, Navarro called him a “car assembler” rather than a manufacturer.
On The Arena with Kasie Hunt, Jennings said that description was wrong and launched into a passionate defense of the Tesla boss. “First of all, if I were going to start a business, I would call Elon. That’s number one. Number two: Navarro was wrong. He was insulting Teslas and Teslas are the most American-made car. And it’s like one of the great American automotive manufacturing success stories,” he said.
He admitted, however, that despite White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt’s assertion that “boys will be boys,” he doesn’t think the public spat is good for Trump.
🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 9, 2025
“So obviously he insulted Elon’s cars unfairly. Elon responded…I’m not sure if any of this serves the president very well. But ultimately, you know, I guess the White House is content to let them fight it out in public,” he added.
Jennings shared a clip of the show on X, calling Musk a “patriotic American.” The billionaire responded with three U.S. flag emojis.
Responding to CNBC, Leavitt said Musk’s post calling Peter Navarro “truly a moron” and “dumber than a sack of bricks” constituted “transparency.”
“Whatever. We are the most transparent administration in history, expressing our disagreements in public,” she said.
“We will let their public sparring continue.”
A senior White House adviser, meanwhile, told Axios: “We like it.”
The cracks in Trump’s Cabinet started to show after his decision to impose tariffs of at least 10 percent on America’s trading partners sent market tumbling. Musk had reportedly pleaded with the president to soften the levies, while Navarro and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick had reportedly urged a hardline stance.
In a now-deleted post Saturday, Musk began publicly slating Navarro, say that his Harvard University PhD was a “bad thing, not a good thing.”
“Elon sells cars. He’s simply protecting his own interests,” Navarro slapped back on Fox News the day after, before making the “car assembler” jibe on Monday.
Then, on Tuesday, came Musk’s slur and his assertion that Navarro is “dumber than a sack of bricks.”
“Retarrdo is dangerously dumb,” he added Tuesday, in response to a clip of Navarro on Fox News.
Even his brother, businessman and restaurateur Kimbal Musk, got in on the act. He tagged Donald Trump and wrote on X: “Mr President, if Peter Navarro has lied to you about Ron Vara, what else has he lied to you about? Put America first and fire him!”
Musk was referring to a fictional character Navarro created in his 2011 book, Death by China—which was reportedly a major influence on Trump’s economic thinking. Ron Vara is an anagram of Navarro. He described it as “a whimsical device.”
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