Great point from @normornstein.bsky.social: Elon Musk has attached himself to Trump like Tony Curtis and Sidney Poitier handcuffed together in "The Defiant Ones." It's hard to see how the brewing conflicts here don't end up splitting MAGA. Our exchange on this: newrepublic.com/article/1899... - ThreadSky

gregsargent.bsky.social • 66 days ago

Great point from @normornstein.bsky.social: Elon Musk has attached himself to Trump like Tony Curtis and Sidney Poitier handcuffed together in "The Defiant Ones."

It's hard to see how the brewing conflicts here don't end up splitting MAGA.

Our exchange on this:

https://newrepublic.com/article/189921/transcript-trump-drops-new-hints-hell-screw-mike-johnson

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Comments

yourcanadiangf.bsky.social•66 days ago

this reminds me how a relative will latch onto the elderly patriarch who is losing their mind so they can get the paperwork signed to just inherit the wealth, but screw those family members he hates.

oeishik.bsky.social•66 days ago

This MAGA split with Elon will only happen if Elon stops giving Donald money.

vivbernstein.bsky.social•66 days ago

You seem to think Trump cares about policy. As long as Musk doesn’t piss off Putin, he can pretty much do what he wants.

kilocharlie237.bsky.social•66 days ago

Yeah but at least you could root for those guys.
There are no heroes to be found here.

todoscojones.bsky.social•66 days ago

I thought you were going to say like Tony Curtis and Burt Lancaster in The Sweet Smell of Success. LOL

suzannaregos.bsky.social•66 days ago

Yes! Exactly! (I would call the Trump-Musk movie The Smell of Suckcesspool)

jweland.bsky.social•66 days ago

Elon Musk right now… a parasite, sucking the life out of the host before destroying them.

aljensen.bsky.social•66 days ago

More like Ray Milland attached to Rosey Grier, in The Thing with Two Heads!

deaconwife.bsky.social•66 days ago

Trump made his SECOND deal with the devil. It would be a “popcorn” moment if innocent people weren’t in the crossfire of these two megalomaniacs.

attyatlawn.bsky.social•66 days ago

I'm not convinced that MAGA won't find a way to reconcile a split. They've mastered the art of believing in contradictory positions and to pick what to believe in in a way that complements their priors. They will simply refuse to acknowledge any falling out between Trump and Musk.

polittlecat.bsky.social•66 days ago

neither Trump nor Musk give a crap about MAGA. When Trump continues to favor the wealthy, his bread and butter in office, to the detriment of MAGA, that he only needs for votes, MAGA will turn on them. Remember Trump told them they'd never have to vote again so he no longer needs them.

attyatlawn.bsky.social•66 days ago

I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for them to desert Trump. They'll find someone else to blame, as they've always done.

polittlecat.bsky.social•66 days ago

sure they will. We have the example of the Trump supporter who became disillusioned and became violent against him. He's primed them for violence, it will turn against him too. He's in charge now, if he doesn't do what he promised to help them, they will turn on him. There is no one else to blame.

polittlecat.bsky.social•66 days ago

they are already becoming disenchanted with his appointments and with Musk. It will only get worse.

thatproviso.bsky.social•64 days ago

Choosing myth over logic....

nulliusnverba.bsky.social•66 days ago

The duo presumably spent the first several hours arguing over which one of them had to be Sidney Poitier?

oksportsfans.bsky.social•66 days ago

I think the closer analogy is Tony Curtis and Burt Lancaster in “Sweet Smell of Success”. The tipster sucking up and debasing himself at the feet of powerful gossip columnist. The craven entanglement of overly ambitious men drunk with power.

welshrarebit.bsky.social•66 days ago

Another fictional analogy would be King Theoden and his evil adviser Grima Wormtongue from The Two Towers.

nulliusnverba.bsky.social•66 days ago

Even better: Ar-Pharazôn and Sauron.

The Faithful better have their boats ready.

dialysisnurse.bsky.social•66 days ago

That would be the reference norm would use

mtannenbaum.bsky.social•66 days ago

This is a great movie reference. A classic movie that you all should watch next time it's on TCM.

thatproviso.bsky.social•64 days ago

Archive dot org's search landing pages tag films with a little strip of celluloid symbol. Sometimes Spanish subtitles, but tolerable black and white when full screened. No ads.

csilberman.bsky.social•66 days ago

You're assuming that Beltway Dems will proactively take advantage of that, though, and work hard to set their own narratives instead following GOP framing. But: https://www.axios.com/2025/01/08/schumer-democrats-laken-riley-act-immigration

simiansilverback.bsky.social•66 days ago

Trump's power arises from his loyal fan base. Any contest with the Musk, who has over 200M followers, will erode that power. Thus, Trump will back Musk, always. MAGA influencers who take on both Trump and Musk will lose. MAGA will not split. It will solidify.

I hope I am wrong.

But I'm not.

drjannmatlock.bsky.social•66 days ago

This seems like a huge insult to Sidney Poitier. I thought of suggesting the analogy of Bette Davis & Joan Crawford in Whatever Happened to Baby Jane, but even they rose above these two fascho-nimwits.

massdisillusion.bsky.social•66 days ago

The In-Laws, (Falk/Arkin version)

differance.bsky.social•66 days ago

another terrible analogy. that partnership works out for the best for all involved, including the hapless Latin American outpost of the Cold War US empire.

amelbil.bsky.social•66 days ago

And not something we should rely on to “save us.” Active engagement w/ legislators at all levels is necessary.

mollymcguire007.bsky.social•64 days ago

MAGA CIVIL WAR . KILL EACH OTHER .

dameofdestiny.bsky.social•66 days ago

Except Curtis and Poitier were vastly more watchable.

mseraphimsl.bsky.social•66 days ago

Mikhail Khodorkovsky. It doesn't matter how wealthy Musk is if Trump nationalizes his companies and imprisons him. The United States doesn't have lived experience with autocratic government, but great wealth is not the shield in one that one might expect.

thurstonnuggsiv.bsky.social•66 days ago

An attack like that on Musk would be an attack on all the tech olis like Thiel, Ellison, Andreesen, Zuckerberg and Bezos. Combined they wield too much power and hold too much influence.

I'd love to see them lose it all but don't see that being possible...

mseraphimsl.bsky.social•66 days ago

Khodorkovsky was the richest man in Russia and Yukos one of the 5 largest companies. Putin utterly destroyed it in 6 months as a message to all the others. The message was stay in line and you'll be incredibly wealthy and powerful. Step out of line and I'll destroy you next. They got in line

mseraphimsl.bsky.social•66 days ago

Khodorkovsky's sin, by the by, was trying to form an independent political power block. Another note for Musk to ponder.

elcorintio.bsky.social•65 days ago

On the other hand, with a good amount of money you can buy all the bounty hunters of the galaxy.

nmwilkinson.bsky.social•66 days ago

Nah, as long as they get a cut, they'll mostly fall in line, if history is anything to go by. Those people aren't friends, and they won't want to be next. Which is one reason this 👇 will be very tempting for Thiel-Vance

https://bsky.app/profile/nmwilkinson.bsky.social/post/3lbuske35xk2j

adamgilson.bsky.social•66 days ago

It's a great question. How much of MAGA is concerned with getting actual policy, vs. how much of MAGA is concerned with culture war/owning the libs obnoxiousness? Or, how far does their ostentatious obnoxiousness take them before the base wants actual stuff?

differance.bsky.social•66 days ago

that is a vile analogy to an anti-racist classic

kathleena.bsky.social•66 days ago

Speaking of happy marriages, perhaps Bezos is also competing to become Trump's favorite billionaire by courting Melania.

fayettefayette18.bsky.social•66 days ago

Perhaps?

zathras5.bsky.social•66 days ago

With respect, analyses like this one (complete with the seemingly inevitable reference to some movie) seem just obtuse to me. They overlook the obvious factor in this situation: Trump’s age.

Musk has already gone way beyond what anyone in Trump’s circle could have gotten away with 8 years ago.

zathras5.bsky.social•66 days ago

One reason: Musk bought himself in. But another is simply that Trump is very old now, and easily influenced to embrace ideas that clearly aren’t his. Some commentators spent many hours last year complaining that legacy media obsessed over Biden’s age while ignoring Trump’s. Well….they were right.

luperamos1949.bsky.social•66 days ago

Breaking Up is hard to Do when you've bought yourself an Election for 220 millions& continue to hold Govt Contracts!!💸🤑💲💰🔊🔊🔊💯💯 No conflict of Interests! Just money bounds 2 Facists!

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