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He shot onto the political scene seemingly out of nowhere.

But Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, made his presence known in short time.

After acquiring Twitter in 2022 and wading into the controversial politics of free speech and misinformation, Musk’s first big move was to dump more than $50 million of his own cash into a dark money political action committee called Citizens for Sanity, which ran ads promoting conservative culture war causes.

Then, he helped bankroll Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s ill-fated 2024 presidential run to the tune of $10 million.

When DeSantis’ campaign collapsed, Musk went all-in for Donald Trump, appearing with him at rallies and promoting his falsehoods and conspiracy theories to anyone who would listen.

It would be a beneficial relationship, he was betting. If Trump won, Musk could count on Trump to create favorable operating conditions for his many businesses, from SpaceX to Tesla, Neuralink to X.

Trump, for his part, would get support from his favorite kind of person — a wealthy one — and boy did he.

By the end of the 2024 cycle, Musk would spend $288 million to help elect Trump and other Republicans.

After the election, Musk was rewarded with a cushy post in the West Wing near Trump and a lofty new position — overseeing a Department of Government Efficiency.

And then he was seemingly everywhere.

He was in the Oval Office, leading spontaneous press conferences in his black MAGA hat and T-shirt.

He was sitting for Fox News interviews with his DOGE team and posting controversial takes on social media.

He was at CPAC, the conservative convention, ridiculously wielding a chainsaw.

He was so visible, in fact, many were collectively wondering, “Who’s running the country — Trump or Musk?”

That feels like years ago.

Musk is now quietly exiting the scene he once dominated, his reputation torn to shreds.

According to a new ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos poll, just 35% of Americans said they approve of his job performance for the Trump administration.

Tesla’s Q1 report was abysmal, with earnings down 34.89%.

His acquisition of Twitter saw a subsequent increase in hate speech and misinformation, with former users complaining that it’s now just a platform for MAGA, trolls, and bots.

His political influence seems to have waned as well. He backed a Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate, even appearing in Green Bay wearing a cheesehead hat and handing out checks for $1 million to supporters. His candidate ended up losing by 10 points, his $19 million summarily rebuked by voters.

As CNN’s Harry Enten put it, “he became political Kryptonite.”

It’s even unclear if his signature project, DOGE, was a success. While he laid off upward of 280,000 federal workers — which hardly endeared him to voters — the department promised to find $2 trillion in savings by eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse.

DOGE, however, in all its convenient secrecy, has only publicly reported a small amount of cuts. DOGE is also being sued by multiple bodies.

Furthermore, a damning Senate report alleged that Musk could end up personally avoiding up to $2 billion in legal liability stemming from DOGE.

Now out of the West Wing, Musk is attempting to clean up what’s left of his reputation. And he’s criticizing the man and the administration with whom he was once so cozy.

“DOGE is just becoming the whipping boy for everything,” he complained to the Washington Post. “So, like, something bad would happen anywhere, and we would get blamed for it even if we had nothing to do with it.”

In an upcoming interview with “CBS News Sunday Morning,” he also slams Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill.”

“You know, I was, like, disappointed to see the massive spending bill, frankly, which increases the budget deficit, not decrease it, and undermines the work the DOGE team is doing.”

And, “I think a bill can be big or it can be beautiful. But I don’t know if it can be both. My personal opinion.”

But Trump doesn’t seem to care what Musk’s personal opinion of the bill is. He’s a love ’em and leave ’em kind of guy, and Musk is clearly being dumped.

In a clear sign of his dwindling utility, his next move at DOGE, far less grandiose than his initial one, will be to modernize the federal government’s computers.

It’s a humiliating end to what was often a humiliating tenure as a wannabe political figure. Many in Trump’s inner circle, with whom he often had confrontations, are glad he’s gone.

To be sure, Musk still has an ungodly amount of money and an inarguably significant political win under his belt with the re-election of Trump. But it all came at a huge cost to his reputation.

In with a bang, out with a whimper.

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(S.E. Cupp is the host of "S.E. Cupp Unfiltered" on CNN.)

©2025 S.E. Cupp. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.