Long before he became the ire of liberals and Democrats alike, Elon Musk was a political and commerce partner with many top Democrats.
Yes, well before Musk’s meteoric rise to becoming the chair of the the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), he was working along side powerful Democrats who saw eye-to-eye with the billionaire’s business ambitions.
Including an ally to former President Barack Obama.
While Obama may not admit it today, resurfaced video footage of then-President Obama has emerged of touring SpaceX with Musk.
On April 15, 2010, Elon Musk was pictured with President Barack Obama while the president visited Cape Canaveral, Florida, Kennedy Space Center, while touring the “SpaceX launch pad.”
“By the mid-2030s, I believe we can send humans to orbit Mars and return them safely to Earth. And a landing on Mars will follow. And I expect to be around to see it,” Obama said at the time, according to a news release.
“But I want to repeat – I want to repeat this: Critical to deep space exploration will be the development of breakthrough propulsion systems and other advanced technologies. So I’m challenging NASA to break through these barriers. And we’ll give you the resources to break through these barriers. And I know you will, with ingenuity and intensity, because that’s what you’ve always done,” he added.
Here’s the footage of the two meeting and mingling.
This isn’t the first time that Obama has been linked to similar ambitions to Musk.
Musk recently shared a 2011 clip from Obama expressing the need to crack down on excess government spending.
Obama sounds exactly like @DOGE!! https://t.co/k92s04pJdY
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 14, 2025
“Obama sounds exactly like [DOGE]!!” Musk posted on March 13.
Musk has been open about pulling away from the Democratic Party in recent years.
In addition to being the CEO of Tesla, Musk also quickly rose to prominence beyond the business world and into the political arena after his purchase of X, formerly known as Twitter, and his support for Trump in 2024.
“In the past, I voted Democrat because they were (mostly) the kindness party. But they have become the party of division & hate, so I can no longer support them and will vote Republican,” Musk tweeted in May 2022.
He donated to Obama multiple times during his 2008 and 2012 campaigns, according to Federal Election Commission records, further emphasizing the change over time of where he has placed his resources.
But fast forward to today, and Musk and his role with DOGE have been targets of ongoing onslaughts from Democrats.
Some Democratic lawmakers have compared him to the late Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler.
In February, “Squad” member Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., referred to Musk as a “Nazi nepo baby, a godless lawless billionaire, who no one elected.”
Former liberal Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., said Musk is “incompetent. He’s a thief. He’s a Nazi. And people don’t trust him.”
This attack prompted Musk to say, “I’ve had enough. Lawsuit inbound.”