Elon Musk says when he needs a boost he looks at JD Vance's portrait in the White House "and thank the Lord"

Elon Musk recently responded to Minnesota Governor Tim Walz's comments about Tesla's falling share prices, which he made during a recent public appearance in Wisconsin on March 18.

For the unversed, Musk's electric car company took a hit in stock prices after the tech billionaire's work as the head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) with Vivek Ramaswamy. Musk faced immense backlash after he spearheaded an initiative that led to severe layoffs on a federal level in an effort to curb government spending.

Walz, who ran as the Democratic Vice Presidential candidate in the 2024 presidential election, recently quipped that he checked Tesla's stock prices whenever he needed a boost. Following this, Elon Musk took to X on March 19 to respond to Walz's comment, writing:

"Sometimes when I need a little boost, I look at the @JDVance portrait in the @WhiteHouse and thank the Lord."

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JD Vance claimed Elon Musk made "mistakes" in his mass firing of federal employees

In a March 14 interview with NBC News, US Vice President JD Vance admitted that Elon Musk made "mistakes" with his initiative to reduce government spending by firing several federal employees.

“Elon himself has said that sometimes you do something, you make a mistake, and then you undo the mistake. I’m accepting of mistakes,” Vance said in the interview.

He continued:

“I also think you have to quickly correct those mistakes. But I’m also very aware of the fact that there are a lot of good people who work in the government — a lot of people who are doing a very good job. And we want to try to preserve as much of what works in government as possible, while eliminating what doesn’t work.”

During the interview, JD Vance also responded to questions about Elon Musk characterizing government employees as "fraudsters." For context, Elon Musk sent a mass email to federal workers in February, asking them to report back on their daily duties.

When asked about the email, the tech billionaire explained it was a technique to spot "outright fraud," claiming that no work was done in the government because most federal workers rarely checked their emails.

During his recent NBC interview, JD Vance seemingly supported Elon Musk's rhetoric, claiming that some employees were not doing their jobs properly and stayed around to "collect their checks."

Vance also claimed that the problem stemmed from some federal employees living off the "generosity of American taxpayers." However, he added that it wasn't fair to deny that civil servants who did important work existed.

“However big the problem is, it is a problem when people are living off the generosity of the American taxpayer in a civil service job and not doing the people’s business. That doesn’t distract or detract from the fact that you do have a lot of great civil servants who are doing important work. But I think most of those great civil servants would say we want to be empowered to do our job,” Vance added.

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Since assuming his position as the head of DOGE in January 2025, Elon Musk has fired thousands of federal workers. However, the exact number is uncertain at the time of writing. Musk's work with the government as an advisor to President Donald Trump has been met with outrage, with calls for Tesla boycotts and protests outside Tesla showrooms.

Several Tesla stores and vehicles have also been vandalized as a result. But what affected the electric car company the most was its plummeting stock prices, which have dropped by nearly half since January 2025. Trump recently bought a red Tesla Model S on March 11, 2025, in an effort to help Elon Musk and boost the company's stock prices.