Musk reinstates DOGE staffer who resigned over racist posts after JD Vance leads outcry

WASHINGTON – Elon Musk said Friday that a Department of Government Efficiency staffer who resigned this week after social media posts surfaced of him advocating for racism and eugenics was reinstated. The move came after Vice President JD Vance led an outcry for his return.

"He will be brought back. To err is human, to forgive divine," Musk wrote on X in response to a post by Vance calling for Marko Elez, a 25-year-old software engineer, to rejoin DOGE.

Elez resigned from DOGE after the Wall Street Journal inquired about racist comments made on a deleted social account linked to him. Vance spoke out Friday in favor of Elez, and President Donald Trump later said he was "with" Vance in calling for his reinstatement.

"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," Vance said in a Friday post on X. "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."

Asked for comment on Vance's post during a White House press conference, Trump replied that he was not aware of "the particular thing" but then turned to his vice president seated in the front row and asked if he'd made the comment. After Vance acknowledged his comment Trump added, "I'm with the vice president."

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Among the posts at issue from the X account tied to Elez is one from last June that reads, “Just for the record, I was racist before it was cool,” according to the Journal, which reviewed archived posts.

"You could not pay me to marry outside of my ethnicity," the account wrote in a September post. And in another post the same month, according to the Journal, the account wrote, “Normalize Indian hate,” in reference to another post on the large population of people from India in Silicon Valley.

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White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told the Journal that Elez resigned after the newspaper made inquiries about the social media posts.

Musk's DOGE has been rapidly moving throughout the federal government in an effort to slash spending and cut workers.

Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., who is Indian American, took issue with Vance's remarks. "Are you going to tell him to apologize for saying 'Normalize Indian hate' before this rehire? Just asking for the sake of both of our kids," Khanna wrote on X.

He appeared to be referencing the vice president's children as well as his own. Vance’s wife, Usha Vance, is the nation’s first Indian American and Hindu second lady.

Vance doubled down in response to the congressman: "For the sake of both of our kids? Grow up," Vance said in an X post.

"Racist trolls on the internet, while offensive, don't threaten my kids. You know what does? A culture that denies grace to people who make mistakes. A culture that encourages congressmen to act like whiny children," Vance said.

Musk on Friday polled his X followers about whether the DOGE employee should be brought back. Seventy-eight percent responded yes and 28% no. In other X posts, Musk lashed out at the Journal reporter who reported on Elez's posts and resignation and said the reporter "should be fired immediately."

Zac Anderson contributed

Reach Joey Garrison on X @joeygarrison.

(This story has been updated with new information.)

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Must reinstates DOGE staffer who resigned over racist posts