‘Why Are You Gay?’ Elon Musk Rages at Top Trump Official Over Loss of Government Contract

Mediaite ^ | 10/21/2025 | Isaac Schorr

[Miami Rebel]

Former Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) showrunner Elon Musk raged at Trump Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy on Tuesday, accusing him of “trying to kill NASA” in an angry series of tweets that included a derogatory nickname.

Musk and Duffy had previously sparred over Musk’s efforts at DOGE.

“I think it might not have been intentional, might have been ham-handed [like] some of the requests that were made by [the Department of Government Efficiency], but my position was, we are not going to fire air traffic controllers,” Duffy told The New York Post‘s Miranda Devine earlier this year. “Safety-critical positions are not going to be fired within the Department of Transportation. We can do things more efficiently … but we are not going to fire air controllers. And so we had a little back and forth, [but] we got along very well after that. I think the papers made it a bigger deal than it was.”

Hostilities reignited on Monday, however, when Duffy told CNBC that Musk’s SpaceX was falling “behind” the administration’s timeline for returning to the moon and that he was going to allow other companies to compete for the government contract to do so.

“We’re not going to wait for one company,” said Duffy, who is also serving as the acting administrator of NASA. “We’re going to push this forward and win the second space race against the Chinese. Get back to the moon, set up a camp, a base.”

Duffy even shared a tweet amplifying his comments.

We are in a race against China so we need the best companies to operate at a speed that gets us to the Moon FIRST.

SpaceX has the contract to build the HLS which will get U.S. astronauts there on Artemis III.

But, competition and innovation are the keys to our dominance in… pic.twitter.com/dAo0so5qqZ

— NASA Acting Administrator Sean Duffy (@SecDuffyNASA) October 20, 2025

Musk has not taken kindly to Duffy’s remarks.

First, he responded to Duffy’s tweet with a GIF of a famous exchange in which an African anchor asked a guest, “Why are you gay?”

Also, one question pic.twitter.com/DhpuWoOTPt

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 21, 2025

Then, he took a shot at Blue Origin, SpaceX’s Jeff Bezos-owned rival.

Blue Origin has never delivered a payload to orbit, let alone the Moon

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 20, 2025

And on Tuesday, he continued his volley of attacks, deeming Duffy “Sean Dummy,” accusing him of trying to “kill NASA,” and arguing that “The person responsible for America’s space program can’t have a 2 digit IQ.”

Sean Dummy is trying to kill NASA! https://t.co/cP0RxP09rt

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 21, 2025

Lobbying against Jared Isaacman, literally the most qualified and best person to be the new head of NASA, is so dumb. You can’t hate politics enough.

Jared as NASA head would be great for America. https://t.co/bNs7yf01xu pic.twitter.com/JuP6eD7dgd

— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) October 21, 2025

The person responsible for America’s space program can’t have a 2 digit IQ https://t.co/U4O2GERiTg

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 21, 2025

[Robert DeLong]

That would be the infamous Rodney King of the brutal beatdown he received from L.A. Police in 1991 following an auto chase that culmunated with a DWI arrest.

Four policemen were chareged with accessive use of force, three were acquited, while the 4th the jury was unable reach a verdict.

That in turn ignighted the riots in L.A.

On Father's Day, June 17, 2012, King's partner, Cynthia Kelley, found him dead underwater at the bottom of his swimming pool at the age of 47. King died 28 years to the day after his father, Ronald King, was found dead in his bathtub in 1984.

[mass55th]

Elon has another temper tantrum.

[1Old Pro]

Competition is good

[mass55th]

I’ll wait for President Trump’s take on this matter. Musk tends to have temper tantrums when he doesn’t get his way. This could be another one of those instances.

[SmokingJoe]

Except SpaceX hasn't lost any government contract as far as I know.
Usual crap from Mediaite?
Yup.

[Governor Dinwiddie]

#21:

"King's partner, Cynthia Kelley, found him dead underwater at the bottom of his swimming pool at the age of 47. King died 28 years to the day after his father, Ronald King, was found dead in his bathtub in 1984."

It's well known that blacks aren't great swimmers.

[Miami Rebel]

You’re losing me.

Did Mediaite report a lost contract?

Duffy wants competition and Musk calls him a fag.

You have a Trump administration cabinet member being called gay by arguably the most powerful billionaire in the world (and one who has alternately been in bed and at war with that administration,) but you find it unnewsworthy?

My apologies for wasting 30 seconds of your news-reading life.

[Vaduz]

How many Ethel and Julius Rosenbergs populate the DC Swamp?

Indeed the hunt is still on.

[JayGalt]

True, his reaction could be more vigorous than needed but I’m not impressed with changing a proven horse in midstream. Nor is using a threat to motivate a supplier who is responsive and has produced results a wise tactic. This is a situation where safety is a big part of the equation.
A lot of business people view all companies as equivalent under the skin and use the methods that work to get the most out of widget makers on any company. Seems like that is happening here.
Trying to force speed in this line of work is tone deaf and hampers the end result.
To send a payload into space is not so momentous but sending men & women is different. If you are not confident in the company you are working with you never should have contracted with them. The competitors can promise anything. What is to say the next company won’t promise and fail or deliver a mishap. The idea of dropping the contract with Musk and embracing a company with much less experience is irresponsible.

[Trump Girl Kit Cat]

I am with you on this Musk has the expertise on this opening this up to promises to be faster is a recipe for disaster NOT a smart move!!!

[SmokingJoe]

“Did Mediaite report a lost contract?”

Read the headlines:
‘Why Are You Gay?’ Elon Musk Rages at Top Trump Official Over Loss of Government Contract

[SmokingJoe]

“Duffy wants competition and Musk calls him a fag”

Competition is great, but who is going o compete effectively with SpaceX in the fields they operate in?
Blue Origin is yet to deliver even one payload into orbit.
And Blue Origin was founded before SpaceX.

[BereanBrain]

I pretty much agree with Elon on this.

Blue Origin has spent entire boatloads of money and decades with no result.

Nothing to orbit.

But hey, if you want lots of money floating around, by all means pour it into companies who can’t get it up.

(snicker)

[SunkenCiv]

In a stunning shift for NASA's Artemis program, acting Administrator Sean Duffy announced on national TV that the agency is reopening bids for the Artemis III lunar lander -- the first crewed Moon landing since Apollo 17 in 1972 -- moving beyond SpaceX's Starship Human Landing System due to persistent delays in orbital refueling and suborbital test failures.

Originally awarded to SpaceX in 2021 for this pivotal mission, Starship now faces stiff competition from Blue Origin's advanced Blue Moon Mark 1 and Mark 2 landers, which could accelerate timelines to beat China's Lanyue lunar ambitions before President Trump's term ends in 2029.

Elon Musk fired back on X, slamming Blue Origin's orbital track record while insisting SpaceX is lightning-fast in the US space race, even dismissing the urgency to outpace China in this renewed lunar exploration era.

🤵 Hosted by Sawyer Rosenstein (@thenasaman). 

NASA Boss Wants to Cancel SpaceX's Starship Lander
- and Elon Musk isn't Happy | 5:30 
BREAKINGspace | 11.6K subscribers | 7,758 views | October 21, 2025

---

Elon Musk Furious Over Acting NASA Admin New Plan. 

Elon Musk: Sean 'Dummy' shouldn't lead NASA | 9:14 
Ellie in Space | 212K subscribers | 2,669 views | October 21, 2025

[SunkenCiv]

• Boeing Starliner: Never forget: Incompetence + arrogance => astronauts refused to fly Starliner, and when they were made to, it was a disaster. [10/21/2025]

[Albion Wilde]

found [Rodney King] dead underwater at the bottom of his swimming pool at the age of 47. King died 28 years to the day after his father, Ronald King, was found dead in his bathtub in 1984.

So, it was "No Kings Day?" (Please forgive me...)

[Albion Wilde]

Why are you making so much sense, when others want to post lazy thinking, snark and rage?

[Robert DeLong]

In a way, I reckon that is a valid observationm based upon a different connation of what a King is. 😁🤙

[sloanrb]

Here’s the kicker. Because NASA didn’t want to put all its eggs in one basket they already gave Blue Origin the second lunar lander contract. So not sure why Sean Duffy is after SpaceX.

Unless he doesn’t like Elon and wants to get NASA away from him. Remember before Duffy was appointed interim NASA administrator it was Elon’s friend Jared Issacman who was the first announced NASA administrator before he withdrew. This may just be another government power play.

[Texas Fossil]

Could it be that Blue Origin bribed Sean Duffy?

Or, Musk insulted him?

Elon Musk’s track record in space is very very good.

(I say that and don’t hesitate. But a year ago X froze my account, permanent. Not a single trace was left.)