Elon Musk has picked another fight in Donald Trump’s inner circle with a Christmas challenge to Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Musk posted a photo of himself on his platform X, formerly known as Twitter, dressed up as Santa Claus and posing in front of a lit-up tree with the caption: “Ozempic Santa.”
He followed up with a message that quickly went viral in MAGA world: “Like Cocaine Bear, but Santa and Ozempic!”
“Technically, Mounjaro,” Musk added, “but that doesn’t have the same ring to it.”
He was referencing a once-weekly injection – approved for use last year by the Food and Drug Administration – that is widely used for weight loss. It makes the user feel fuller between meals and lowers the appetite. It is also used to treat type-2 diabetes.
Musk is gloating about his trimmer figure in the posts about the drug. Mounjaro, works like Ozempic, slowing down how quickly food is digested and helping with weight loss.
But he also appears to be trolling Kennedy, Trump’s pick as Secretary of Health and Human Services, who has made no secret of his opposition to drugs as a primary method of battling obesity.
“The first line of response should be lifestyle,” he told CNBC’s Jim Cramer earlier this month.
Kennedy is notoriously health conscious and posts gym photos and videos showing off his shirtless physique at 70. During his aborted presidential campaign, he pledged to “restore America as the global example of health & well-being. Not through pills or syringes, but through character and self-discipline.”
A Christmas post yesterday showed photos of him on the slopes at a ski resort.
Musk is equally outspoken in his support for pharmaceutical assistance in shedding the pounds, with a December 11 post saying: “Nothing would do more to improve the health, lifespan and quality of life for Americans than making GLP inhibitors super low cost to the public. Nothing else is even close.”
The billionaire had said in 2022 that he used Wegovy, another of the GLP inhibitors to control his weight.
The latest sign of an impending culture clash at the White House was also being seen as more proof that Musk will not hesitate to interfere with other Trump appointees if his opinions conflict with theirs.
Although a government shutdown was avoided before the holidays, Musk’s Twitter storm of opposition to House Speaker Mike Johnson’s original bipartisan bill was seen on Capitol Hill as a statement of intent.
Trump’s dietary habits – a liking for fast food and diet cola – don’t make him a natural ally for bodybuilder RFK Jr. His wife, Cheryl Hines, said that the scion had “had no choice” when he was photographed eating McDonald’s on Trump’s private plane with the president-elect, Musk and Donald Trump Jr.
Unlike with the spending plan where Trump was forced into taking sides, the president-elect may prefer to sit this one out and see who comes out looking the best.
