Steve Bannon ribbed X CEO Linda Yaccarino on Wednesday, saying he was abandoning Elon Musk’s platform because he can’t keep the billionaire “in check.”
On Wednesday’s episode of his “Bannon’s Warroom” podcast, the former Trump adviser mocked Yaccarino, saying she resigned from X earlier in the day to escape upcoming lawsuits—without speculating further on what those lawsuits might be.
“Hey Linda, you can run, baby, but you can’t hide,” Bannon said. “You’re not going to hide from the lawsuits, girl. We know why you’re leaving office and why you’re running.”
Bannon—a vocal critic of the Tesla and SpaceX boss in recent months—has also ripped X as a “scam” website and repeatedly called his nemesis “Elmo,” a nickname he’s recently used to mock Musk. On July 4, Bannon ripped Musk for his plan to launch a new political party, calling him “the foul, the buffoon, Elmo the Mook,” who was seeking to “smear” his former ally, President Trump.
On Wednesday, Bannon said Yaccarino had failed to stop Musk from running amok during his two years as CEO of X.
“We understand why you’re stepping down and why you’re running. This Elmo is out of control. Sorry, baby, that came with the job,” Bannon said. “You took the job, you took the salary, you took the warrants, you took the stock options, you took all the hundreds of millions of dollars you’re going to make. No, if you can’t keep Elmo in the nursery and keep him under control, you’re going to pay a price. You’re going to pay the price of the paycheck.”
Bannon’s latest comments come after he and Musk have been trading verbal barbs. Musk said Bannon was named in the Epstein investigation , and last week, Musk called Bannon a “slobber and a drunk.” Bannon, in turn, called Musk an “illegal alien” from South Africa and called on President Trump to deport him.
Yaccarino announced he was leaving X on Wednesday morning, a day after the platform’s AI model, Grok, was spewing anti-Jewish and pro-Hitler comments.
A Wall Street analyst who spoke to TheWrap on Wednesday said it was “not a surprise” Yaccarino decided to leave X.
“She had a very difficult job from the beginning that was compounded by some of Elon’s actions to limit content moderation and harass advertisers,” the analyst said.
Wedbush analyst Dan Ives told TheWrap that Yaccarino “did a great job and was a key part of X’s foundation.” He added that “it will be tough shoes to fill.”
Ives primarily covers Tesla, Musk’s electric car company. He said he is optimistic about the company’s future, thanks in large part to its autonomous technology and Optimus robots. He drew Musk’s ire on Tuesday, however, with the world’s richest man telling Ives to “shut up” after he recommended Tesla’s board work to curb Musk’s political activity.
Mediaite was the first outlet to pick up on Bannon’s latest comments about Musk on Wednesday.
