Elon Musk may be running the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and shaking up Washington, but don’t expect him to make a presidential run anytime soon—at least, not if you ask his dad.
In a lively interview on Al Arabiya News’ GNT, Errol Musk, father of the billionaire entrepreneur, made it clear: his son is “not cut out for politics.”
Why? Because politics requires dealing with everyone—from the “incredibly clever” to the “somewhat not clever”—and Elon, Errol insists, prefers to surround himself with top-tier minds.
Musk for President? ‘Not happening,’ says dad
When asked whether Elon would consider running for US president if the Constitution were changed to allow foreign-born candidates, Musk Sr shot the idea down.
“Politics is where you have to deal with everyone, from the highly sophisticated to the very unsophisticated. If you can’t do that, don’t get into politics.”
According to Errol, his son struggles to connect with everyday voters—a challenge he compared to Donald Trump’s brash New York style, which, despite its appeal to some, made it harder for Trump to resonate with a broader audience.
‘Rotten to the core’: Elon’s war on government waste
But while Musk may not be cut out for politics, he’s still playing a major role in government.
His DOGE initiative has been tasked with eliminating wasteful spending—and, according to Errol, it’s exposing corruption so deep that entire departments are being shut down.
“They found that the rottenness was so enormous that the only solution was to completely close down the entire department immediately,” Musk Sr. said. “The problem wasn’t just bad employees; it was an entire system of waste.”
While DOGE claims it has saved $55 billion, critics argue that nearly $38 billion of those savings remain unverified.
The ‘Nazi Salute’ controversy: Errol says it’s ‘nonsense’
And then there’s the awkward hand gesture that set the internet on fire.
At a recent event, Elon slapped his right hand on his chest and extended his arm diagonally outward, palm down, twice—prompting accusations that he was making a Nazi salute.
Errol dismissed the outrage as “nonsense” and blamed Elon’s struggles with public speaking.
“Elon is a terrible public speaker. He was just trying to get through his little speech as fast as possible and look as charming as he could. But he struggled,” Musk Sr. said.
As for the controversial arm movement? According to Errol, it’s simply an ancient gesture with no ties to Hitler or Nazi Germany.
“It was an international salute we’ve had for the last 10,000 years or more. The old German ‘hail Caesar’ salute came from the Persians, the Sumerians, and so on. It simply meant, ‘My right hand is empty,’” he explained.