Regardless of where you stood on President Trump and Elon Musk’s heated social media battle, anyone could take a moment to appreciate the people who were most definitely getting it wrong. Many in the media were quick to blow the debate out of proportion Friday morning, and CNN This Morning was no exception.
During their roundtable discussion of the posts, two guests, New York Times journalist Lulu Garcia-Navarro and CNN senior reporter Edward-Isaac Dovere, passed on reporting facts to share their views on the matter.
As host Audie Cornish reveled in the reaction of “Democrats just with popcorn,” Garcia-Navarro explained her view on where Trump would take matters:
I think this is bad for Musk. I am – if you look at the history around the world of authoritarians breaking up with their oligarch buddies, those oligarch buddies don’t end up in a good place. They either end up impoverished, imprisoned, or dead. I’m not saying that that’s going to happen to Elon Musk here, but the power is with the government. You saw Donald Trump immediately say, “all right, we’re going to take away your, you know, contracts. We’re going to, you know, punish you and retaliate,” and he has the power to do that. We’ve seen Donald Trump exercise that power. So, you know, I actually think this is a losing battle for Elon Musk.
Where was she even getting this from? Since when had the government had the power to kill a man who disagreed with the president over social media? Even with Trump’s threats of canceling contracts with Musk, nothing here was an overreach of presidential power, and she even acknowledged that herself.
Of course, that’s not what’s important to fear-mongering liberals. What counts is hammering home in every situation that Trump is an abusive authoritarian, even when it is irrelevant to the conversation.
Competing with Garcia-Navarro for most outrageous take of the morning was Dovere, who tried, quite unsuccessfully, to push a feminist narrative into the equation. As he put it:
I also think it’s sort of a stunning moment when you think about how often in politics we’ve thought about, “like, well, what if a woman was in a position of power? Would they be too emotional?” Look at what is going on here, right?
(…)
If this were two women fighting, it would be like, “Oh, this is a catfight.” But it’s not. It’s two powerful people who are having a very emotional, childish back and forth.
Nice try, Dovere, but even your co-hosts weren’t buying it. His attempt to work in perceptions of women pretty quickly backfired. As Dovere stuttered over himself, trying to justify his words, Garcia-Navarro called him out, declaring, “This is sexist. I don’t like it.”
Just as with Garcia-Navarro’s comments, Dovere’s personal ideas were entirely unrelated to the conversation, but rather than give their viewers the facts, CNN opted to once again spout their typical talking points.
The transcript is below. Click “expand” to read.
CNN This Morning
June 6, 2025
6:04 a.m. EST
(…)
[ON SCREEN HEADLINE: Musk To GOP Lawmakers: “I Will Be Around For 40+ Years…”]
AUDIE CORNISH: Okay, joining me now in the Group Chat: Isaac Dovere, CNN’s senior reporter, Rob Bluey, president and executive editor at The Daily Signal, and Lulu Garcia-Navarro, CNN contributor and New York Times journalist. Now, we have a few clips of Democrats just with popcorn, basically. We’re gonna play those in a minute.
Rob, I want to start with you, because I remember once on this show with you and Lulu, you, on X, just did a post and it got like 17 million views because it was basically nice to Elon. And I’m bringing this up because his power and manipulation of that platform means he has amplified these messages far and wide. What do you make of this moment?
(…)
[ON SCREEN HEADLINE: Musk & Trump Alliance Goes Up In Flames Amid Personal Attacks]
ROB BLUEY: You have a large number, yes, of very popular, massive followings on X, individuals who have taken Elon’s side in this. But the elected Republicans in Congress, those who ultimately need to cast the vote for the One Big Beautiful Bill are all siding with Trump. And so this is probably going to play out over the next couple of days, and I don’t know if it can get much nastier than it already is.
CORNISH: Oh, it can, knowing the people involved. Lulu, I’m going to share your favorite headline of the day because you said I got to give you the post. “I hate my X.”
LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO: It’s a great headline.
CORNISH: It’s not subtle, as always, but it is accurate, it seems, for today. Lulu, your reaction?
GARCIA-NAVARRO: I have so many thoughts about this. So, you know, I think this is bad for Musk. I am – if you look at the history around the world of authoritarians breaking up with their oligarch buddies, those oligarch buddies don’t end up in a good place. They either end up impoverished, imprisoned, or dead. I’m not saying that that’s going to happen to Elon Musk here, but the power is with the government.
You saw Donald Trump immediately say, “all right, we’re going to take away your, you know, contracts. We’re going to, you know, punish you and retaliate,” and he has the power to do that. We’ve seen Donald Trump exercise that power. So, you know, I actually think this is a losing battle for Elon Musk.
And the other thing I would say is that I think Elon Musk has realized that when he was given the golden key, it was like being given one of those bad watches when you retire early, when they want you out the door. Basically, he was taken advantage of. They wanted his money. They wanted his power. And now they’re like, “you know what, my friend? You’ve caused a lot of problems. Here’s the exit.” And his response is, “show me gratitude.” Well, you know, money only buys you so much.
CORNISH: Okay, Isaac?
EDWARD-ISAAC DOVERE: I don’t know if we had a couple of tweens in place doing their – running their Twitter accounts if it would look much different from this. I also think it’s sort of a stunning moment when you think about how often in politics we’ve thought about, “like, well, what if a woman was in a position of power? Would they be too emotional?” Look at what is going on here, right?
CORNISH: The girls are fighting.
DOVERE: Yeah, well, that was –
CORNISH: This is your pundit way of saying the girls are fighting.
DOVERE: That was what I –
GARCIA-NAVARRO: This is sexist. I don’t like it.
DOVERE: No, I think that that’s – If this were two women fighting, it would be like, “oh, this is a catfight.” But it’s not. It’s two powerful people who are having a very emotional, childish back and forth.
[ON SCREEN HEADLINE: Trump Claims Musk “Went CRAZY” Over EV Tax Credits
But what’s really going on here is that we don’t know what’s going to happen with this bill that has major changes to the way government works, whether it’s Medicaid and SNAP benefits or what it will do to the debt.
(…)
