This makes me happy
One of the amusing things about awful people is, when they become friends, you can bet their friendship will end in bitter acrimony. Who hasn’t worked in an office and seen just that kind of thing happen? Two office gossips or backstabbers form a rogue’s alliance, and before you know it they’re at each other’s throats. It’s one of schadenfreude’s richest harvests.
And, to borrow a phrase, nobody does it better than Trump. In fact, nobody has ever seen anything like it. Trump has managed to alienate more former associates than Bernie Madoff. And he does it on the world stage. As the saying goes, if you think everybody’s an asshole, then you’re the asshole.
Of course, there’s not much to choose between Trump and Elon when it comes to assholes. Both are a special kind. Two giant egos with thin skins and pathological inabilities to let anything slide. The clash was inevitable. I’m frankly surprised their association lasted as long as it did.
So the inevitable rift has come at last. Trump bombastically slams Musk. Musk snivels back. It’s like watching two churlish children on a playground arguing over a toy. It’s pathetic.
But it’s yielded some tasty fruit. Musk claims that the reason the White House didn’t release the Epstein files is because Trump is in it. In this one instance I believe him.
Of course, when asked if he’d release the Epstein files, Trump said that he wasn’t sure he would because it contains lies and he wouldn’t want to get innocent people in trouble. Right. The guy who has innocent people kidnapped off the streets and sent to an El Salvadorian prison is worried about, ahem, “protecting” innocent people. Sure.
So I think we need to get our mitts on the Epstein files and release them somehow. Now, I’m not naive enough to think that those files will get Trump in trouble with MAGA. I frankly don’t think that’s possible anymore. But I do think Trump will be embarrassed about them. I think the revelations in those files, that Trump is a child rapist, will do serious damage to his brittle little ego. And that’s more schadenfreude for me and you.
Anyway, I’m glad it happened. It’s embarrassing to MAGA, to Trump, to Elon, they’re all unhappy. And that makes me happy. I like watching bad people having a bad day, and you can bet that both Trump and Musk are having a much-deserved and long-overdue bad day.
Robert Harrington is an American expat living in Britain. He is a portrait painter.