Vice President J.D. Vance is backing Marko Elez, the DOGE staffer who was ousted after his racist posts promoting eugenics came to light. Elez’s comments sparked a lot of backlash, but Vance seems to think he shouldn’t be held accountable at all for being racist.
After Elon Musk posted a poll on X asking if Elez should get his job back, Vance jumped in with his take:
“Here’s my view: I obviously disagree with some of Elez’s posts, but I don’t think stupid social media activity should ruin a kid’s life. We shouldn’t reward journalists who try to destroy people. Ever.”
He went on to say, “So I say bring him back. If he’s a bad dude or a terrible member of the team, fire him for that.”
It’s hard not to see a pattern here—Vance and others in the Trump orbit have a history of defending people with racist views. Instead of acknowledging the serious nature of Elez’s comments, Vance is downplaying it, suggesting that racist opinions shouldn’t cost someone their job.
Elon Musk also chimed in, saying the journalist who exposed Elez’s posts should be “fired immediately,” backing the idea that people shouldn’t face consequences for harmful views. This kind of attitude seems to be all about protecting people with extreme or racist beliefs, no matter the damage they do.
