Stephen Colbert Mocks Donald Trump for 'Bowing' to 'President Elon Musk' Over Killed Spending Bill: 'The Founders Are Spinning in Their Graves'

Late-night talk show host Stephen Colbert mocked President-elect Donald Trump for "bowing" to his billionaire super donor Elon Musk.

Colbert trolled the re-elected commander-in-chief by labeling him "Vice President Trump" and hinting at Musk being the real one in control of the Republican party after Congress killed a bipartisan spending package that would have averted a government shutdown.

“Yesterday, Speaker Mike Johnson had painstakingly negotiated a compromise with the Democrats to fund the government through March,” Colbert told his audience on Thursday, December 19. “But then that was all upended at the last minute by Elon Musk, who tweeted at 4:15 a.m. yesterday, ‘This bill should not pass.’”

“It makes sense that Musk would kill this at the last minute because he’s an expert at blowing things up on the launch pad,” the late-night host joked before showing a clip of a SpaceX rocket exploding.

“I’m sure the founders are spinning in their graves with joy at the way all of this is playing out. After all, the Constitution does start with, ‘We the people do whatever rich boy tells us. Rich boy makes the big square truck car,'” he continued.

“Trump didn’t weigh in for a few hours, but when he did, it was just to echo what Musk had already said. Which is why now some folks are calling Elon Musk president,” Colbert declared. “Well, if he’s going to be the guy running everything, I’m going to have to work on my Elon Musk impression.”

Since being named leader of the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency, Musk has targeted the proposed spending bill that’s meant to prevent the government from shutting down.

The billionaire took to X on Wednesday, December 18, posting about his opposition to this specific bipartisan funding bill.

He made posts calling the bill "criminal" due to the amount of money it intended to spend and said the bill would be "funding bioweapon labs."

Musk’s stance is seen as a challenge to the authority of Republican House Speaker Johnson, as well as other Republican figures who helped craft the bill.

Leftist Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders also labeled the Tesla billionaire "President Elon" on social media.

He took to X on Wednesday and wrote, "Democrats and Republicans spent months negotiating a bipartisan agreement to fund our government. The richest man on Earth, President Elon Musk, doesn’t like it. Will Republicans kiss the ring?"

The senator followed up his post by pointing out: "Elon Musk, who became $200 billion richer since Trump was elected, objected. Are Republicans beholden to the American people? Or President Musk? This is oligarchy at work."

Musk was reportedly one of the first political figures to voice his opposition to the bill, and just 13 hours later, President Trump spoke out in agreement with his billionaire buddy.

Trump took to Truth Social and wrote: "Congress must get rid of, or extend out to, perhaps, 2029, the ridiculous Debt Ceiling. Without this, we should never make a deal. Remember, the pressure is on whoever is President."