Stephen A's Take:  Elon Musk's DOGE, is it getting too nosey? - podcast episode cover

Stephen A's Take: Elon Musk's DOGE, is it getting too nosey?

Feb 13, 202512 min
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Episode description

Stephen A. Smith is a New York Times Bestselling Author, Executive Producer, host of ESPN's First Take, and co-host of NBA Countdown.

Support the show: http://www.youtube.com/@stephenasmith

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcript

Speaker 1

Let's go to Washington, d C.

Speaker 2

The nation's capital, where Americans saw a different image of power coming from the White House. Elon Musk, the world's richest man and new head of the Department of Government Efficiency. Kind of the press conference from the Oval Office with the President of the United States, Donald Trump sitting right next to him, Both men defended their efforts to enact

sweeping changes to the federal government and limit spending. The move comes as Trump signed an executive order yet another one providing new guidance for federal agencies to cut what both men characterize as excessive government spending.

Speaker 3

Your detractors, mister Muski, including a lot of Democrats.

Speaker 1

I have detractors I don't believe.

Speaker 2

It, say that you're orchestrating a hostile takeover of government and doing it in a non transparent way.

Speaker 1

What's your response to that criticism.

Speaker 4

Well, first of all, you couldn't ask for a stronger manage from the public. The people voted for or major government reform. There should be no doubt about that. That was on the campaign. The President spoke about that at every rally. The people voted for major government reform, and that's what people are going to get. They're going to get what they.

Speaker 1

Voted for, mister Busk.

Speaker 2

The White House says that you will identify and excuse yourself from any conflicts of interest that you may have.

Speaker 1

Does that mean that you are in effect policing yourself. What are the checks and balances that are in place to ensure that there is accountability and transparency.

Speaker 4

Well, we actually are trying to be as transparent as possible. In fact, our actions, we post our actions to the DOGE handle on x and to the DOGE website, so all of our actions which are maximally transparent. In fact, I don't think there's been I don't know of a case that were an organization has been more transparent than the DOGE organization. And I fully expect to be scrutinized and get a daily proctology exam. Basically, I so well just camp out there. So it's not like I think

I can get away with something. I'll be scruganized, not stop.

Speaker 5

And we thought that we would not let him do that segment or look in that area if we thought there was a lack of transparency or a conflict of interest, and we watched that.

Speaker 1

Also, if a judge does block one of your policies part of your agenda. Will you abide by that ruling? Will you come?

Speaker 3

I always abide by the courts, and then I'll have to appeal it. But then what he's done is he slowed down the momentum and it gives crooked people more time to cover up the books. Yeah, the answer is I always abide by the courts, always abide by him, and will appeal.

Speaker 2

You know, I listen to Elon Musk speaking there. I listened to Donald Trump, President Donald Trump, forty seventh President of the United States, formerly the forty fifth President of the United States, speaking there, and I'm watching Democrats protesting on Capitol Hill demanding justice, highlighting that nobody elected Elon. I'm hearing politicians rightfully, So I might add emphasizing the need to not stand pat and just wait to make change come midterm elections.

Speaker 1

They're not wrong.

Speaker 2

We don't need to stand out of buy and wait until the midterm elections. Folks do need to speak out, especially I elected officials. But like I told y'all before, my politics regardless of what you want to think, because most of the time I vote Democrat. That's usually involving the presidency. I didn't tell you how I vote for a gubernatorial see or a mayoral seat or anything like that. But that's neither here nor there. The point is I

pride myself and being a centrist. Ill openly confessed that most people on my team are not.

Speaker 1

They're leftist.

Speaker 2

I'll openly confessed that a lot of people that I work for and whatever new regardless of what they say, I think they're rights.

Speaker 1

They're not fooling anybody. I don't care.

Speaker 2

I look at the information and I'm going to call balls and strikes like I see them.

Speaker 1

Elon Musk is a problem. He is a problem because he's the world's richest man according to numerous reports, he's received.

Speaker 2

Money from our government because he's in business with the government, whether it's Skylink, Tesla or whatever. I don't have those that information in front of me. And he's not an elected official. So not only have the people not elected him, he wasn't even confirmed by the Senate.

Speaker 1

He's just Trump's guy.

Speaker 2

That is an incredible, incredible reason to be alarmed, especially when they're looking at have access to the Treasury Treasury, thereby giving them access to private information involving every American citizen in this country. Certainly there's a reason to be very, very alarmed. Nobody's denying that, But you see, I'm fair minded.

Speaker 1

There's a flip side.

Speaker 2

I don't know about y'all, but aren't you a little bit suspicious about watching a bunch of Democrats raise holy hell over his access before we find out whatever it is that he's found out. I don't know about y'all, but I don't want laws being broken. I don't want the Constitution being ignored or violated. I don't want the civil liberties of American citizens being compromised.

Speaker 1

All of that is true, but I have to confess.

Speaker 2

I do want to know how much money politicians are getting from the moment they arrive on Capitol Hill.

Speaker 1

What are your investments? Who did you invest with?

Speaker 6

What kind of information did you get access to to enable you to make those investments so you can make money? To the American people have the same access you have, We damn sure I don't have the same health care.

Speaker 1

From my understanding, these are questions, why do we have a.

Speaker 2

Problem knowing that the answers to them? Inquiring minds would like to know you're an elected official, that makes you a public figure.

Speaker 1

I think Trump should have given us access to his books.

Speaker 2

I think it should have been mandated when he was running for election at twenty fifteen into twenty sixteen. How in the hell did he not have to show us his tax returns? That should have been mandatory. I got a red flag up about Musk two. I'll be damned if I trust Trump. But nearly eighty million people have spoken, regardless of what the Democrats want to tell us, and I hear like the number was like two hundred and twenty.

Speaker 1

Thousand out of millions.

Speaker 2

That's what it ultimately came down to the difference in the polls between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.

Speaker 1

Whatever it is.

Speaker 2

He won every swing state one about fifty counties. He increased in the black, the Hispanic and the young voter demographic and the white women that was supposed to come out and be against him in droves because of his position on Roe v Wait didn't equate to him.

Speaker 1

Not being re elected.

Speaker 2

Somewhere along the line said miss it, I understand the uproar. I understand the need for the Democrats to make noise. DI is another thing. We'll be revisiting that in the days in the weeks to come, make no mistake about it, but understand on its premise to have somebody elected in office targeting excessive government spending. I'm trying to figure out, how is the taxpayer supposed to be appalled and put off and threatened by that exposure being revealed to us

if I'm not trusting Musk. I'm not trusting Trump, But I'll be damned if I don't want to hear what they have to say about where to help millions upon millions.

Speaker 1

Of dollars of taxpayer money has gone. Oh, I want all those.

Speaker 2

Details, every penny if you can find out, I want it all. Where has this money been appropriated to, Who has it been appropriated by, what level of benefit did they incur from it?

Speaker 1

And who suffered because of it?

Speaker 2

There are strong questions to ask coming down the pike, especially with these executive orders Trump is handed down. You want to get rid of the Department of Education, Well, what kind of damage is that going to do? Where will we be as a country without the Department of Education? What tentacles does it have and does it reach that could detrimentally affect the American people?

Speaker 1

And if you don't have a department.

Speaker 2

Of education, How specifically is that going to benefit our country.

Speaker 1

I want to hear about all of that.

Speaker 2

I want to hear about that with the CIA, A bunch of people that you asked.

Speaker 1

To resign or take off or take seventh back, whatever you did. I want to hear that with d I. I want to hear that about the FBI.

Speaker 6

I want to hear about everything, because are you doing what you're doing to find money to make it look like we're doing better because we've located where the money is gone and and and we've identified, we're accessed touspending.

Speaker 1

Needs to be targeted so we don't have to worry.

Speaker 2

About that anymore. Are you doing it to dismantle the government in such a way that we don't really have one? And we're at the behast in the mercy of Donald Trump and Elon Musk, Because if the latter is true, then our democracy is in danger and autocracy is being get detained. If the latter is true, we don't know. Perhaps we'll find out sooner than later, but I know this much. I want to know where the money is, where the money is gone, and who the hell's been spending.

Speaker 1

It and how much did they take for themselves. Yeah, I want to know.

Speaker 2

That, even if it comes from some South African dude worth billions that has no relation to me whatsoever. My interest is in where the money resides, where the money resides, where the money resides, where the money resides.

Speaker 1

Okay, that's all I got to say about that.

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