Laura Loomer, a close aide to President-elect Trump, criticized another Trump ally, Elon Musk, as a “Stage 5 clinger.”
Loomer joined former Trump adviser Steve Bannon's podcast “War Room” on Monday. considered The battle against masks continues.
“I think a lot of people are not comfortable speaking truth to power, and a lot of people are afraid of confronting billionaires,” Loomer said. “He's the richest person in the world, so it's like he's orbiting President Trump.”
“When I called him the other day, he said he was clinging to stage 5,” she continued.
Musk, who was appointed co-director of President Trump's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), has become part of the president-elect's inner circle and is embroiled in political drama ahead of his inauguration.
Musk and fellow tech entrepreneur and DOGE co-leader Vivek Ramaswamy join some Trump supporters after expressing support for H-1B work visas, a key immigration program to attract international talent. criticized by others.
Loomer and other hard-line immigration Republicans harshly criticized Musk on the social media platform he owns, X.
Musk faced accusations of censorship after several right-wing X accounts, including Rumors, lost access to premium features such as verification and monetization. NBC News reported.
Loomer said on Bannon's podcast that many people close to Trump are realizing they can't criticize Musk, in part because they rely on the platform to monetize their posts. He said that this is because of the
“They realize that their opinions of President Trump are being overshadowed,” Loomer said. “There's a shadow of the richest man in the world with these ulterior motives.”
Loomer questioned whether Musk truly supports Trump's “America First” philosophy or is trying to promote something else.
As for his own status on X, Loomer said he thinks Musk doesn't like his closeness with Trump and his public disagreement with Trump.
“It doesn't matter what side of politics a billionaire is on,” she says. “I don't think it's acceptable for billionaires to have this much power and access.”
Loomer said it was unfortunate that things had escalated the way they did, but he looks forward to coming back and remonetizing with X.
The Hill has reached out to X for comment.
