In the wake of damning new drug allegations, Elon Musk showed up at his own farewell party from the White House sporting a black eye and an even stranger excuse for it.
As the New York Times and other outlets report, the billionaire claimed during his Oval Office goodbye shindig that he’d gotten a visible shiner from his five-year-old son, who has the extraordinary name X Æ A-12 and is generally known as X.
“I was just horsing around with little X, and I said, ‘Go ahead, punch me in the face,'” the billionaire said when a reporter asked about the bruise. “And he did!”
Though there’s no particular reason to believe he’s not telling the truth, the new drug allegations, which came in another NYT report about Musk’s time stumping for Donald Trump last fall, may prove to be another blow to the Tesla chief’s already-shaky credibility.
It’s easy to speculate that the shiner came from an adult-sized fist. New reporting by the Daily Mail claims that Musk came to blows with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent earlier this year, and this there’s been ample speculation this week about a rift between Musk and Trump political adviser Stephen Miller, following Miller’s wife leaving the Trump fold to work for Musk.
Of course, this is all in the context of the NYT‘s reporting, based on sources close to the multi-hyphenate’s activities on the campaign trail, that Musk — who has been open about taking ketamine for therapeutic purposes and has allegedly been known to use psychedelics and cocaine — has been doing way more drugs than previously reported.
According to those sources, Musk was not only using ecstasy and taking magic mushrooms while he was preaching Trump’s virtues to the nation, but also revealed to others in his orbit that he had developed bladder problems from his frequent ketamine use.
The 53-year-old, who was also reportedly seen carrying a daily pill organizer chock-full of at least 20 pharmaceutical drugs including Adderall, was also, per that NYT story, being tipped off ahead of his government-mandated SpaceX drug tests — though as we’ve noted, only ecstasy would show up on a standard panel.
Notably, little X also made an appearance in that piece, which added that Musk seemed to enjoy having the child with him as much as possible — including on the campaign trail, which according to the NYT‘s sources coincided with his alleged uptick in drug use.
There’s no reason to believe that Musk was lying about his and Claire “Grimes” Boucher’s eldest child punching him in the face — but if he was on ketamine when it happened, it could well have resulted in a K-O.
More on family feuds: Elon Musk’s Dad Slams His Son’s Whimpering Failure at Politics