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Things got a little heated when CNN returned to Georgia's Brantley County, a place where almost 90% of voters backed now-President Donald Trump in the 2020 election.
While Joe Biden went on to become the first Democrat to win the presidential election in Georgia since 1992, Brantley County backed the red elephant of Trump's Republican ticket.
Jump forward to the November 2024 election, and while Georgia was once again a swing state, Trump scraped through with 50.72% of the votes.
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CNN's Elle Reeve previously visited Brantley County in October 2024, but returning after the election, she asked what its residents think about Elon Musk's closeness to the POTUS.
Saying that people in Brantley County tended to gravitate toward Trump because he's for 'them' instead of the elite, Reeve went on to ask those who live there what they think about Musk and his role as the head of the Department of Government Efficiency.
Gushing about Musk's new role in the government, resident Josh Ebban Kirkland said: "You know somebody smarter?"
When Reeve said, "You can be smart and immoral, you can be smart and make bad decisions," Kirkland added: "You are 100% about that, there's no doubt about that, it does not give me pause. I'm 100% team Musk."
Others seemed to equally be behind the world's richest man, with Brantley County's Kathy Hendrix saying that while there are lots of 'ifs' and 'buts' about Elon Musk, he's a 'brilliant man': "I think a lot of people are scared that the two of them [Trump and Musk] have teamed up." Hendrix went on to say she's sold out of Trump merch, with the 'Daddy's Home' t-shirt proving particularly popular.
Things took a turn when Reeve met with three men, including a rare Brantley County Trump skeptic called Corbet Wilson. She reminded Wilson's friend, Dave Herrin, how Musk smoked marijuana during an episode of The Joe Rogan Experience podcast in 2018.
Reeve raised concerns that Musk is a government contractor who has potential interests in his own endeavours and has admitted to drug use. Herrin clapped back, saying: "There's potheads all over this country, y'all trying to sit here bashing one man for what 99% of this country, Republican or Democrat, Corbet. This whole dagum town smokes pot."
As things got heated, Herrin accused Reeve of being a Democrat and then stormed away from the table when she tried to show proof of Musk smoking on Rogan's podcast.
Herrin raged: "She's coming in here with ignorant arguments. She ain't talkin' facts.
"I can prove you're a Democrat by the level of ignorance you portray."
Herrin gave one final shot as he said: "Donald Trump, Elon Musk, please drain this world. While you're there, get the job done."
The largely positive response to Musk comes after Trump himself said he was happy with the head of the DOGE and joked he'd fire anyone in his cabinet who wasn't.
In Reeve's own words, she concluded by saying: "We had not anticipated the emotional connection many already felt with Musk."
