White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt faced a tough challenge trying to downplay a violent clash between Elon Musk and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent inside the White House — a spin that quickly fell apart under scrutiny.
During a Sunday Fox News interview, host Maria Bartiromo pressed Leavitt about shocking reports from MAGA influencer Steve Bannon and The Washington Post detailing a physical altercation between Musk and Bessent.
“Elon Musk aggressively body-checked Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent,” Bartiromo said. “Did he body-check the Treasury Secretary in the White House?”
Leavitt’s response was weak and evasive.
“There have definitely been healthy disagreements amongst the cabinet and Elon Musk,” she said. “There were times in which they got frustrated with one another, but I think that really speaks to the heart of this cabinet… that they can have these robust disagreements and still come together to do what’s right for the people they are serving.”
When pressed again on whether Musk actually got physical, Leavitt insisted, “I certainly wouldn’t describe it as a fist fight, Maria. It was definitely a disagreement… But again, we’ve moved on from that.”
Her attempt to paint the violent encounter as nothing more than a “disagreement” collapsed in the face of The Washington Post’s report. According to the paper, Musk rammed his shoulder into Bessent’s ribcage “like a rugby player” during a heated exchange over government spending cuts. Bessent responded by hitting Musk back in the face, and the fight had to be broken up by several bystanders.
Steve Bannon, who spoke to the Post, described how Bessent confronted Musk about failing to deliver on his promise to cut more than $1 trillion in wasteful government spending. Bessent reportedly shouted, “You’re a fraud. You’re a total fraud.” Angered by the accusation, Musk then physically shoved Bessent.
Multiple people rushed in to break up the fight, and Musk was escorted out of the West Wing. Bannon said President Trump heard about the incident and declared, “This is too much.”
Bannon also told the Daily Mail that the fight started when Bessent challenged Musk’s failure to follow through on promised federal spending cuts linked to the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
“Scott Bessent called him out and said, ‘You promised us a trillion dollars (in cuts), and now you’re at like $100 billion, and nobody can find anything, what are you doing?’ And that’s when Elon got physical,” Bannon said. “It wasn’t an argument, it was a physical confrontation. Elon basically shoved him.”
Social media buzzed with rumors after Musk appeared at a May 30 Oval Office press conference with a noticeable black eye, sparking speculation that it came from the brawl. Neither Musk nor Bessent have publicly commented on the incident.
However, Karoline Leavitt called the fight “a simple disagreement”.
Watch the video below from Fox News:
