Elon Musk, Tesla owner and billionaire, announced on Friday that he is reinstating Marko Elez, a former department of government efficiency (DOGE) employee who resigned a day earlier following a report linking him to a deleted social media account that had espoused racist views.
Elez, 25, resigned Thursday after The Wall Street Journal identified him as the user behind an account that had previously posted statements such as, “I was racist before it was cool” and “You could not pay me to marry outside of my ethnicity”.The account also included a September post stating, “Normalize Indian hate.”
US vice president JD Vance publicly supported Elez’s return, arguing that “stupid social media activity should not ruin a kid’s life”.
Musk, in response, conducted a poll on his social media platform X, asking whether Elez should be reinstated, with 78% voting in favour.
Following the poll, Musk wrote on X, “He will be brought back. To err is human, to forgive divine”. A few hours later, US President Donald Trump backed his vice president’s stance, stating “I’m with the vice president” during a news conference on Friday, according to AP.
Vance justified his position, saying, “I obviously disagree with some of Elez’s posts, but I don’t think stupid social media activity should ruin a kid’s life. If he’s a bad dude or a terrible member of the team, fire him for that.”
Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna criticised Elez’s reinstatement, questioning whether he would issue an apology before returning to the position.
“If you are going to rehire someone to represent you and the USA, why not insist he apologize for saying ‘Normalize Indian hate’?” Khanna wrote on X.
Vance defended his decision, responding, “It’s not racist trolls on the internet who threaten my kids, but a culture that denies grace to people who make mistakes.” He emphasised that young people should be allowed to grow and learn from their mistakes.
Beyond the social media scandal, Elez was also involved in a recent controversy at the US treasury department, where he and another DOGE employee accessed a federal payment system, leading to a court ruling that restricted their access, as per AFP.
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