Resignation from Musk's Doge: A Controversy Over Racism

Marko Elez, a 25-year-old who recently worked in Musk's Doge unit, resigned following allegations connecting him to a racist social media account.

Marko Elez, a young member of Elon Musk's newly established Department of Government Efficiency, known as Doge, has stepped down amid controversy surrounding his alleged connection to a racist social media account. Elez, who previously held a position at Musk's SpaceX, was linked by media reports to an account that had disseminated various racist and eugenicist comments before it was deleted. The White House confirmed Elez's resignation on Friday, but it did not clarify the reasons behind it.

Musk acknowledged the situation with a poll on X—his social media platform—asking if he should consider rehiring the individual who made "inappropriate statements" from his now-removed pseudonymous profile. One of the posts from this account stated, "Just for the record, I was racist before it was cool," further emphasizing his controversial views. More disturbing content included declarations such as, "You could not pay me to marry outside of my ethnicity," and a call to "Normalize Indian hate," which have since been erased.

As of Friday, over 385,000 users had voted in Musk's poll regarding Elez's potential return, though the poll did not explicitly name him. Surprisingly, around 78% of participants expressed support for Elez's reinstatement. Vice President JD Vance chimed in, indicating he disagreed with Elez's posts but felt that "stupid social media activity should not ruin a kid's life," advocating for his return to the team.

The resignation comes at a time when Doge is facing intensified scrutiny for its role within the federal government, particularly in its aggressive efforts to downsize state functions. Notably, a federal judge recently obstructed a plan to incentivize voluntary resignations among federal workers, which would have impacted hundreds of thousands of employees. Musk's push to dismantle agencies like USAID also highlights the controversial nature of Doge's initiatives in the early stages of Trump's second term.