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‘It Can’t Be Both’: Fox News’ Lawrence Jones Pokes Crater-Sized Hole In Dems Argument That Trump Acts Like Dictator

[Screenshot/Fox News]

“Fox & Friends” host Lawrence Jones said Friday that Democrats have contradicted themselves by claiming President-elect Donald Trump is a dictator while also arguing that tech billionaire Elon Musk is pulling the strings.

Democrats, who spent months ahead of the election warning Trump is a want-to-be dictator, have argued that the president-elect has ceded his power to Musk in response to the downfall of the House’s continuing resolution (CR). Jones said Democrats cannot have it both ways, stating Trump is either a dictator who will seize all power or he has allowed Musk to take influence on major policies.

“The last thing I’ll say on this, because a lot of people are out there saying that Elon Musk is the president-elect. The Democrats have to pick a talking point,” Jones said. “Either Donald Trump is gonna be a dictator on day one and run everything and ruin the infrastructure of the country, or he’s ceded his power to Elon Musk. It can’t be both.”

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Democratic Washington Rep. Pramila Jayapal expressed concern that Trump has “ceded” his power to Musk and is allowing the tech billionaire to act as a “shadow president” during a CNN segment on Thursday. Democratic Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett claimed Musk is puppeteering Trump ahead of his upcoming presidential term.

Vice President Kamala Harris and White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre asserted in October that Trump is a “fascist,” citing accusations made by his former chief of staff John Kelly that the president-elect praised Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler. Democratic New York Rep. Dan Goldman warned that Trump intends to become a “dictator” in response to the now-president-elect’s claim that Americans will not have to vote again if he is reelected because the nation will be completely fixed.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned in September that Trump plans to be a “dictator at least on day one” during an interview with MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow. The former presidential candidate made the claim in response to Trump’s joke to Fox News’ Sean Hannity that he will only spend his first day in office as a dictator.

Trump and Musk publicly opposed the initial 1,500 page CR legislation that intended to temporarily extend government funding levels through March 14, 2025, and include a trove of spending priorities such as a pay raise for all members of Congress and $100 billion in disaster relief. The president-elect endorsed a trimmed down version of the CR bill introduced by House Republicans Thursday night, which omitted a pay raise and a one-year authorization for the Global Engagement Center, which is accused of censoring conservative speech.

Trump told the Fox News host on the phone Thursday night that he was unbothered by the Democrats’ taunts that Musk is the true president-elect.

“But the Musk thing didn’t bother the president?” co-host Brian Kilmeade asked.

“No, it did not bother the president,” Jones added. “As I said yesterday, the Musk tweet was a warning shot from the president. They are in lockstep on this. This is why the president appointed him for this commission — him and Vivek — they are doing what the president wants them to do.”

Musk called on any Republican that voted in favor of the first CR bill to be voted out in the 2026 midterms in a Wednesday post on X.

The updated 116 page CR legislation failed to pass after 38 House Republicans voted against it during a Thursday night vote. Republicans in opposition to the bill spoke out against increasing the debt ceiling without spending cuts and allowing $110 billion in disaster aid.