Opinion – Elon, we hardly knew ya

Americans love a brawl, especially when rich and powerful people are involved. We have always been this way. Sam Adams, Andrew Jackson, George Armstrong Custer, George Patton — we have confrontation in our national blood line.

And so the dust up between President Trump and Elon Musk has injected a massive amount of voyeuristic excitement into our lives. Talk about a heavyweight bout! Place your bets now.

One problem: Musk can’t win. He has already lost billions of dollars as his Tesla stock sinks into the treacherous DC swamp. Take Trump, give the points!

I don’t know why the guys are feuding. I haven’t yet spoken with those who do know, but I will. I have been preoccupied with trying to get the Chinese government to cooperate with the U.S., as you may know. Some positive things have been happening on that front, and it’s far more important to your life than the “Thrilla on Pennsylvania Avenue.”

Few care about why this verbal brawl is happening. It’s just fun to watch the titans in the Coliseum. Thumbs up or down? What say you, Caligula?

I do know a few things. Musk has suffered big time for exposing government waste and irresponsibility. The left doesn’t want any of that as it seeks to create an even bigger federal presence to take our money and tell us all what to do. The corrupt leftist media has attacked Musk on every front.  It has happened to me.  It is not fun.  Especially when your businesses are being torched both literally and figuratively.

Therefore, Musk feels aggrieved and, apparently, underappreciated by the president.  So he lashed out.

Trump also feels slighted but, again, I don’t know why.  He is fighting so many battles on so many fronts it’s impossible to nail down precisely what’s happening here.  When I spoke with the president earlier this week about China, he was laser-focused on that. There was no indication then that the Musk thing would hurtle out of control.

This brawl will soon stop as both men love America, and nasty public spats don’t help the country. At all. I don’t expect rapprochement and the continued vitriol from the “glee club” embedded in corporate and social media should be noted. These haters are terrible.  I’d deport them to China if I could.  We could use one of Musk’s rockets to get them over there.

In the end the display will be mostly meaningless. The president has to govern for three and a half more years, Musk will be putting his business empire back together.

That should keep the boys busy.

Let’s hope.

Bill O’Reilly is an author, podcaster and former cable news host and commentator.