Elon enters the circus

The shadow president paced around the stage after his speech, sunglasses on, mouth frozen in a grin, raising a chainsaw overhead to the delight of an adoring crowd as a large rectangular canvas made its way from the back of the audience toward him. He grabbed the painting, visibly thrilled. On the canvas, as onstage, he was the focal point. Beams of light emanated from his head, which the artist had superimposed over scenes from the world his real-world counterpart had promised to build: an astronaut surveying a barren red planet, a futuristic civilization complete with flying cars. In the painting, he wore a suit and tie. His real-world attire was more casual: a black blazer over a novelty T-shirt that read “I’m not procrastinating, I’m doing side quests,†a gold chain, his signature “dark MAGA†hat, and the aforementioned sunglasses. In the painting, he was triumphant. Onstage at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), however, Elon Musk had appeared incoherent. Fifteen or so minutes into the interview, a reporter in the media pit turned to me and mimed smoking a joint, mouthing, “Is he high?â€

Still, the audience was in his thrall. At one point, whe …

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