War of words -the words of President Donald Trump and Elon Musk have made Washington analyze how fast their relationship was close to deteriorating and its implications.
But social media users around the world issued their popcorn, flocked to their devices, and chimed in when the feud was played on social media.
From the supporters of Musk and Trump encouraged each other, with others asking them to cool things, to memes from other internet users who enjoy alternating, platforms like X, Truth Social, and Bluesky have allowed the public to watch everything revealed and weighing in real time.
“They see this as a paint battle,” Jennifer Grygiel, a communication professor at Syracuse University, told ABC News. “The only reason for people to adjust is because we watch reciprocal damage.”
Grygiel noted that while some of the involvement of social media might all be fun and game, it did talk with greater problems about public dissatisfaction with current political conditions and civilian involvement. More importantly, the professor showed, it distracted from the greater political problems and the debate that occurred.
As soon as the post of Musk and Trump down Thursday afternoon, social media users began posting themselves.
“This is like Drake and Kendrick Lamar but they are both Drake,” Anna Hughes, a Canadian sea conservation researcher At the Bluesky Viral Post.
One of the famous supports from Trump and Musk urged them to stop.
“Broooos please NOOOOOOO 🫂 we really love you,” your rapper posted on X.
Others began to make memes, some of them used images produced by AI, from Trump and Musk fighting or appearing as a broken partner.
“Let me be the host of the reunion!” Talk show host late at night Andy Cohen was posted on X.
Logo X is displayed on a laptop on February 10, 2025, in Barcelona, ​​Spain.
Nurphoto via Getty Images, File
On a serious side, Republican on the hill, including DPR Speaker Mike Johnson and Vice President JD Vance, issued a statement about X who defended the President and the Bill of Expenditures.
“There are many lies told by the company’s media about President Trump. One of the most striking is that he is impulsive or angry. Anyone who sees it operates under the tofu pressure is silly,” Vance posted.
The conservative commentator Jack Posobiec claimed in a post X that the couple back and forth exploded outside the proportion.
“Some of you can not handle 2 tall agents doing it and it really shows,” he said.
Some Democrats come down to social media to laugh at.
“Siri, Play ‘Bad Blood,'” The majority leader of the Chuck Schumer Senate posted on Bluesky on Thursday night, referring to Taylor Swift’s song about the relationship on the stone.
Online peanut gallery is not limited to American audiences.
Dmitri Medvedev, former Russian president and Russian Prime Minister, down to X Friday morning with a dose of georpolitics of sarcasm.
“We are ready to facilitate the conclusions of the peace agreement between D and E with a reasonable cost and receive Starlink shares as a payment. Don’t fight, friends,” he said.
Grygiel said Trump and Musk knew they would awaken their political base and the general public by bringing their quarrels to their respective social media platforms, equating them how the media tycoon owners used magazines and newspapers they had at the change of the 20th century.
“This is almost like all these social media platforms is a sports team, with their own personality,” they said. “If there are two men clearly know the importance of changing public opinion.”
Grant Reee, Professor of Political Science at Syracuse University, told ABC News that the use of Musk and Trump social media has encouraged this political involvement for years.
“I think this is very symbol of the whole process of many major changes in political communication and rhetoric campaigns.
Grygiel, however, said posts and comments by some social media users showed an increase in unbelief and public frustration with their elected leaders.
In this photo illustration, social media posts by President Donald Trump and Elon Musk are displayed on smartphones.
Yassine Mahjoub/Sipa via Shutterstock
“Jokes talk about lack of release and how we feel like this is silly,” they said.
Grygiel, however, warned the involvement of the overall quarrel harmed the general public as another urgent problem, including the cutting of the Trump budget, which triggered the feud in the first place.
Senator Democratic Connecticut Chris Murphy echoed this sentiment in a bluesky post that was blunt on Thursday.
“When 15 million Americans lost their health care and plunged into a private crisis, none of them would give — about Twitter battles made to click between two billionaires,” he said.