A growing number of Georgia Democrats are rallying their base — and seeking to woo disenchanted Trump voters — by painting the world’s richest man and the Department of Government Efficiency cost-cutting initiative he leads as a slash-and-burn liability for the new administration.

Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com

Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com

They’ve staged protests at Tesla dealerships. They’ve filed lawsuits and pushed for congressional investigations. And they’ve put Republican lawmakers on the defensive, showing up in force in pro-Trump districts to rail against Musk’s policies. They’ve even made some hardcore Trump allies sweat.

At a rowdy town hall in Roswell last month, angry constituents confronted Republican U.S. Rep. Rich McCormick over DOGE-backed spending cuts. After he was booed and jeered by Musk critics, McCormick urged the billionaire to “take a deep breath, move a little bit slower and a little bit more deliberately.”

Melanie Eyre, a Roswell voter who attended that event, said she feels like the U.S. is barreling toward an avoidable disaster.

“The energy I see from Washington is gleeful destruction — no plan, no vision,” she said. “It didn’t work out so well for Twitter, which has never recovered from the Musk wrecking ball.”

Trump has doubled down on his support for his ally, temporarily turning the South Lawn of the White House into a Tesla showcase as he heaped praise on Musk, who spent close to $300 million boosting his presidential campaign. He even announced he bought a car from Musk’s boycotted company.

Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC

Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC

And Trump’s allies under the Gold Dome have echoed his praise of Musk of a “patriot.” In the Georgia Senate last week, Republicans waved red-and-black tinged “Go DOGE sic ‘em” signs playing off the rallying cry for the Georgia Bulldogs as they championed his role in shrinking the government.

“There’s a lot of people in Georgia and around the country that have been asking for cuts in federal spending for decades, and this is an administration that has finally put their words into action,” said Senate Majority Leader Steve Gooch, a likely candidate for lieutenant governor next year.

“People like Elon Musk have no vested interest. He’s not a bureaucrat. He’s not in there to make money off this. He’s doing it for the love of his country.”

‘They not like us’

Yet Musk’s growing influence has become a political flashpoint, even within the GOP. Trump moved to rein him in at a meeting last week after Cabinet officials vented their frustration over Musk’s seemingly unchecked power.

And polling suggests Musk is an increasingly polarizing figure. A CNN survey released Wednesday showed nearly three-quarters of independents, and one-quarter of Republicans, say Musk lacks the experience or judgment to “make changes to the way government works.”

Democrats see an opening to harness that voter anger. At an event in Atlanta last week, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries cast Musk as an “unaccountable, out-of-control billionaire” and vowed voters would hold him accountable in next year’s election.

Credit: NATRICE MILLER

Credit: NATRICE MILLER

And at the Georgia Capitol, Musk is becoming a flashpoint in state-level debates. Lt. Gov. Burt Jones borrowed Musk’s “DOGE” brand for a long-pending regulatory overhaul, giving Democrats a new reason to oppose it. During a pause in voting this week one of them, state Sen. Josh McLaurin, accused Musk of leading a “smash-and-grab oligarchy.”

“It’s pretty rich, pretty ironic, for Trump to say that you’re going to take on an unelected bureaucracy,” said McLaurin, a Sandy Springs attorney. “And the way that you’re going to do that is by putting an unelected billionaire in charge of the entire federal government with no legal protections.”

For some voters, Musk’s influence has become a reason to get involved. Kevin Griffis, a marketing executive, said Musk has motivated him to protest U.S. Rep. Andrew Clyde, a staunch Trump ally who represents a deep-red northeast Georgia district.

Griffis, who lives in a Gwinnett County sliver of Clyde’s territory, said he’s flooded the “pro-Musk” congressman’s office with calls and emails and is determined to back any challenger, no matter how long the odds.

Credit: AP

Credit: AP

“Trump has abdicated power to Musk, to the extent of doing a car commercial for Tesla at the White House,” he said, adding that he’s warned his friends that Musk policies will help only “a handful of billionaires become even richer.”

That pushback highlights the tightrope Musk’s defenders are walking. Clyde, for his part, reminds voters that Trump said throughout the final weeks of the campaign he’d rely on Musk to overhaul the government.

“The President is keeping this key promise,” he said in a statement, “and I look forward to working with his Administration and my conservative colleagues in Congress to reduce the size, scope, and cost of government.”

At Warnock’s town hall, the Democrat fielded questions about shuttered Social Security offices and mass layoffs that have rocked the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He warned of “tough times” ahead before ending the event with a pointed message about Musk.

“I will continue to raise my voice because I understand the struggles of ordinary people. And when I look at the billionaires who are pushing forward their agenda right now in Washington, forgive me, but in the words of Kendrick Lamar, ‘They not like us.’”

Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC

Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC