(NewsNation) — Political commentator Bill O’Reilly believes that while Elon Musk has been largely successful as a political change agent, the South African tech entrepreneur is becoming an unnecessary distraction for the Trump administration.
“He did a good job exposing the government waste,” O’Reilly told NewsNation’s “CUOMO” on Wednesday. “But now, the technicians should take over. … I think he’ll remain a Trump adviser, but I do think he’ll go back to the private sector.”
Musk has been a leading figure in Donald Trump’s White House, serving as the public face of its Department of Government Efficiency and spending millions of his own money campaigning for Republican-backed candidate Brad Schimel in Tuesday’s Wisconsin Supreme Court election.
Schimel ultimately lost the race to Susan Crawford, the Democratic Party-backed candidate, while many of DOGE’s initiatives to cut back on government spending have been challenged in court and remain in limbo.
Both Schimel’s defeat and DOGE’s stalled momentum have brought increased scrutiny to Musk’s role in Washington and the GOP at large.
While O’Reilly doesn’t blame Musk for the GOP’s loss in Wisconsin, he agreed with the idea that Musk has overstayed his welcome in Washington.
“As I said very early on, Musk is a short-timer,” O’Reilly said. “It’s just too hot. You just can’t have a guy that hot.”