Recent signs point to Trump-Elon Musk breakup coming sooner, not later

For all those who say Democrats haven’t found their traction in fighting against the chaos and destruction of Donald Trump 2.0, the critics need only look at demonstrations taking place from coast to coast — and the main target of that unrest: It’s not Trump, it’s actually Elon Musk.

The president’s sidekick, who is rolling stink bombs into nearly every federal agency while feeding employee lists into a paper shredder, is the subject of most protests signs and chants. And it’s working: Musk’s popularity has been sinking steadily since inauguration, accelerated by his weird press conference in the Oval Office last week (when Musk’s son demanded that Trump step aside for the real president — his father).

Trump probably likes that Musk is taking the heat now, but Musk probably is dragging down Trump’s polling numbers. How long will Trump tolerate that — especially when he can eventually blame Musk, cut him loose and tell Americans: See, I got rid of the problem.

In fact, the White House now is trying to convince those pissed-off Americans marching in every state that Musk actually isn’t leading DOGE. Good luck with that, although it hints at Trump more quickly disavowing Musk — like he did Paul Manafort, Roger Stone, Jeffrey Epstein, Stormy Daniels and on and on.

In an appearance on “Erin Burnett OutFront” recently, CNN polling chief Harry Enten said that Musk’s net favorability rating has dropped to -13 points — down an additional three points before the election.

How bad is it getting? Well, Musk’s popularity was plus-29 points before the 2024 election, when he almost single-handedly was funding Trump’s campaign with roughly $270 million, pleading for the bro vote to go MAGA, strong-arming Kamala Harris supporters on Twitter/X and hunting non-existent election fraud in Pennsylvania.

Now, however, DOGE czar Musk is hiring wanna-be Nazi hackers to access the nation’s most sensitive secrets, lusting for Americans' personal data, demanding that media companies that doesn’t kiss Trump’s butt get handed long prison sentences — while insisting he’s a free-speech advocate. He’s accidentally firing U.S. nuclear arms stewards and lying about USAID.

Oh, and he’s also suggesting that Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid must be weeded of its leeches — Americans who rely on these safety nets for their retirements. He even lied that some of those collecting are 150 years old.

Signs are obvious that Americans might have had enough of the world’s richest man, his ego, racism and conspiracy theories.

When asked what Americans should do to fight Trump, Democratic strategist James Carville cleverly said on MSNBC, “Don’t just stand there, do nothing!” In other words, Carville said, “Get out of the way” of the organic protests that will sink Musk and Trump, he predicted.

In addition to the polling numbers — Trump’s are falling, too, amid the chaos and his lack of attention to inflation — Carville says a gubernatorial election in Virginia later this year likely will send a strong message when many federal workers cast their votes.

If the GOP gets beaten in early elections, Trump might feel the heat and file for a Musk divorce, if the relationship lasts that long.

Meanwhile, even the betting markets are down on Musk, whom bettors predict won’t cut much from the deficit or, in the end, whack enough governmental jobs to make MAGA happy.