It’s not every day a high-profile political drama unfolds live on a podcast, but that’s exactly what happened when US Vice President JD Vance was blindsided by a bombshell tweet from Elon Musk during an episode of This Past Weekend with Theo Von.
The moment Musk accused Donald Trump of being named in the Jeffrey Epstein files was captured in real-time while Vance was mid-interview. Von read the tweet aloud on the podcast, which aired over the weekend: “Time to drop the really big bomb: @realDonaldTrump is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public. Have a nice day, DJT!”
The exact clip covering Elon’s post, uploaded to the separate Theo Von Clips YouTube channel, can be found below.
The post, which Musk later deleted, set off a political firestorm. Vance, visibly surprised, responded: “Ok, wow. I haven’t even seen this one.”
Advert
He added: “First of all, absolutely not. Donald Trump didn't do anything wrong with Jeffrey Epstein. Whatever the Democrats and the media says about him, that's totally BS.”
Musk’s outburst came just a week after stepping down from his role within the Trump administration’s Division of Governmental Enterprise (DOGE), amid reports Trump himself had grown frustrated with the billionaire’s erratic political involvement.
Von joked about the explosive timing of Musk’s post, saying: “The f*****g s**t missile is in the cannon.” Vance tried to get his bearings, asking when the episode would air: “Presumably when this comes out, people are gonna know more about this than even I do because this kind of happened on the plane when I was coming on down here.”
Since the online feud erupted, Musk has not only criticised Trump’s legislative priorities — particularly the president’s “big beautiful” tax bill — but also claimed credit for the Republican Party’s 2024 victories, posting: “Without me, Trump would have lost the election, Dems would control the House and the Republicans would be 51-49 in the Senate.”
Vance, however, attempted to smooth things over, calling Musk “one of the most transformational entrepreneurs ever,” and stressing the importance of avoiding conflict between two major conservative figures.
Vance said: “I’m not saying he has to agree with the bill or agree with everything that I’m saying”.
“I just think it’s a huge mistake for the world’s wealthiest man... to be at war with the world’s most powerful man, who I think is doing more to save the country than anybody in my lifetime.”
Despite Musk having “gone so nuclear,” Vance remained hopeful. “I actually think that if Elon chilled out a little bit, everything would be fine.”
Meanwhile, the deleted posts have sparked a response from House Democrats, who called on federal officials — in a letter that can be found through the Committee on Oversight and Accountability Democrats website — to fully unseal the Epstein files, citing “profound alarm” over the implications of Musk’s claims.
In the meantime, the Trump vs Musk feud is looks to be far from over whichever way.