 "Elon Musk, JD Vance push to reinstate DOGE staffer after 'Indian hate' post")
US Vice President JD Vance on Friday sparked a controversy by calling for the reinstatement of a government staffer who resigned after being exposed for making racist posts under a pseudonym. Hours later, President Donald Trump backed Vance’s stance, adding fuel to the debate.
According to a Wall Street Journal report, Marko Elez, a former SpaceX and X employee who had joined a government cost-cutting initiative, had posted statements such as “I was racist before it was cool” and “normalise Indian hate”. Following the expose, Elez resigned from his role in the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Despite the revelations, Vice President Vance took to X (formerly Twitter) to defend Elez. “I obviously disagree with some of Elez’s posts, but I don’t think stupid social media activity should ruin a kid’s life,” Vance wrote. “We shouldn’t reward journalists who try to destroy people. Ever. So I say bring him back.”
Later on Friday, Trump was asked about Elez’s possible reinstatement during a press conference with Japan’s Prime Minister. He admitted he wasn’t familiar with the details but turned to Vance in the audience to confirm the Vice President’s position. Without hesitation, Trump agreed. “Whatever he says,” Trump said, signalling his support.
Meanwhile, Elon Musk, who had previously led a push to discredit the Journal’s reporting, soon weighed in. Posting on X, Musk confirmed that Elez would be returning. “He will be brought back,” Musk said, adding, “To err is human, to forgive divine.”
Musk, an outspoken critic of media scrutiny, had earlier demanded that the journalist behind the Wall Street Journal report be fired. However, the publication only revealed Elez’s identity after linking his anonymous posts to his real name—without publishing any private information.
To further solidify support, Musk ran an informal poll among his 215 million followers, asking whether Elez should return. A staggering 78 per cent of the 385,000 users who participated voted in favour.
As the fallout continued, Bloomberg reported that another DOGE staffer, Edward Coristine, had been previously fired from a data security company after an internal investigation into leaked proprietary information. The New York Times confirmed that Coristine was let go from his internship at Path, an Arizona-based cybersecurity firm, in June 2022.