Left-wing media figures are ramping up their attacks on Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), calling it “performative vandalism” without results. On CNN’s “Inside Politics” Thursday, The Dispatch editor-in-chief Jonah Goldberg accused Musk of “owning the libs by destroying government institutions without a larger purpose.” The New York Times’ David Fahrenthold echoed the criticism, claiming Musk’s disruption of government operations left little to show for it.
Fahrenthold said Musk’s efforts were supposed to bring about real change in government, but that no substantial progress has been made. He complained about a lack of deficit reduction and no improvements in government IT systems. Fahrenthold implied Musk’s promises were empty, saying, “There’s nothing that the success he promised that would be the payoff for that pain.”
Host Dana Bash chimed in with more speculation, wondering if Musk had harvested government information for his own use. She asked, “Is he sort of laughing on his way out the door? Like I have everybody’s information right now, and see ya.” Fahrenthold admitted, however, that there was no evidence to suggest Musk was taking government data with him.
These attacks are part of a pattern of media and establishment figures lashing out at disruptive efforts to shake up bloated and inefficient government systems. Musk’s critics remain fixated on whether his shake-up of federal agencies was justified, while ignoring the entrenched bureaucracy and waste that has plagued government for decades. The left’s opposition to any real reform exposes their desire to protect the status quo at all costs.
