At a right-wing event on Thursday, Elon Musk, the multibillionaire who Donald Trump has charged with bringing a symbolic chainsaw to the federal government, was greeted like a rock star while sporting a black “Make America Great Again” hat and dark sunglasses.
In fact, he had a chainsaw.
Several thousand people cheered as Argentine President Javier Milei, who is also a favorite at the yearly Cpac event, came out of backstage. He gave Musk a shiny chainsaw with the words “viva la Libertad carajo!” (which translates to “Long live liberty, damn it!” in Spanish) engraved on the blade.
Musk exclaimed, brandishing the power tool, “This is the bureaucracy equivalent of a chainsaw! “Chainsaw?”
On a day when speeches about the perils of big government were generally less animated, it was a remarkable moment.
