DOGE Staff Quits Over “Normalize Indian Hate” Post, Elon Musk Responds
An employee from billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has resigned after he was linked to racist posts on a deleted social media account.
Marko Elez, 25, who was among two DOGE staff members who had access to the sensitive personal data of millions of Americans, resigned Thursday after The Wall Street Journal report uncovered multiple offensive posts on the account.
“Just for the record, I was racist before it was cool,” the account reportedly posted in July last year.
“You could not pay me to marry outside of my ethnicity,” the account wrote on X – a social media platform owned by Musk – in September.
“Normalize Indian hate,” the account wrote the same month about a post noting the prevalence of people from India in Silicon Valley.
The racist post against Indians came at a time when Musk was facing criticism from some supporters of US President Donald Trump for his support for hiring skilled foreign workers in the tech sector following the appointment of Sriram Krishnan, an Indian-origin venture capitalist, to lead artificial intelligence policy in the Trump administration.
In another post, the account reportedly said it “would not mind at all if Gaza and Israel were both wiped off the face of the Earth.”
Elon Musk Says “To Err Is Human”
Following Marko Elez’s resignation, Elon Musk asked his 216 million followers on X if he should reinstate the “DOGE staffer who made inappropriate statements via a now-deleted pseudonym.”
About 78 per cent of the 3,85,000 respondents voted “yes,” prompting Musk to announce: “He will be brought back. To err is human, to forgive divine.”
Bring back @DOGE staffer who made inappropriate statements via a now deleted pseudonym?
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 7, 2025
?
He will be brought back.
To err is human, to forgive divine. https://t.co/TV6SJIb5P6
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 7, 2025
Elez’s resignation came after a court ruled that he and another DOGE worker staffer continue to access the personal information of millions of Americans kept in Treasury payment systems.
Musk and his DOGE team have been tasked by Trump to carry out cuts to the US government.
Trump, JD Vance Want Musk To Rehire Marko Elez
US Vice President JD Vance — whose wife (Usha Vance) and children have Indian heritage — also responded to Musk’s poll and said he “obviously disagrees with some of Elez’s posts”, but doesn’t think “stupid social media activity should ruin a kid’s life”.
“We shouldn’t reward journalists who try to destroy people. Ever. So I say bring him back. If he’s a bad dude or a terrible member of the team, fire him for that,” he wrote on X.
Here’s my view:
I obviously disagree with some of Elez’s posts, but I don’t think stupid social media activity should ruin a kid’s life.
We shouldn’t reward journalists who try to destroy people. Ever.
So I say bring him back.
If he’s a bad dude or a terrible member of… https://t.co/OgG6Z3hKPE
— JD Vance (@JDVance) February 7, 2025
Donald Trump also backed Vance and told reporters in the White House that he supported his stance.
Asked about Elez at a news conference, he said he didn’t know the former DOGE staffer.
“I don’t know about the particular thing, but if the vice president said that – did you say that? – I’m with the vice president,” Trump said.
