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Elon Musk and his family under fire for using Air Force One; netizens retort 'That's government waste'
Elon Musk and his family received immense backlash as they waved at the photographers after deboarding Air Force One.
Elon Musk and his family have come under scrutiny after pictures surfaced on social media, showing him flying with his mother Maye Musk and son X Æ A-12 on Air Force One, the plane specifically allotted for visits of the US President,
The family received immense backlash as they waved at the photographers after deboarding the plane.
A caption on an Associated Press image of Musk and his family getting off the plane described the moment as taking place “upon President Donald Trump's arrival at Joint Base Andrews” in Maryland.
Additional AP images showed Trump exiting Marine One, another official presidential travel plane, as it touched down on the White House's South Lawn on Sunday evening. The President is spotted getting out of the helicopter, followed by Musk, his mother, and his son.
Meanwhile, some social media users claimed that the Tesla CEO and his family members were driven to the White House and were staying there.
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Netizens lambast Musk and his family
Several Trump's and Musk's detractors have denounced the photos, calling them “government waste” amid massive cuts by Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) cuts.
It also occurs at a time when Musk's authority in the White House has raised questions, with some fearing he has greater control over US policy than Trump. Meanwhile, Musk has been under fire for using his son X as “human shield”, with Grimes urging him to keep their son away from media limelight.
“Your tax dollars are paying for the richest man in the world to fly around when he has his own jets,” wrote The Lincoln Project, an American pro-democracy group with over 2.8 million followers on X. “That's government waste.”
“I don’t think this is appropriate. He is rich enough to fly himself,” another reacted.
“Doge is not doing its jobs. Elon has money fore private jet, helicopter. He is wasting Tax payers money,” a third user stated.
However, other social media users did not think it was unusual for a top adviser to travel aboard Air Force One.
“They're working, while being green and flying together. There is nothing strange about a president flying with an adviser,” commented ResethO, who has over 16,000 followers on X.
