Irish Examiner view: Hard times for megalomaniacs

Elon Musk is to step down as CEO of Twitter.

Times are hard for megalomaniacs. 

Just this week we learned that Elon Musk has announced he will step down as CEO of Twitter, while the tax details of former US president Donald Trump are to be made public.

Musk’s tenure at the social media giant has been marked by mass firings and the departure of advertisers as well as U-turns on operating policy. He ran a poll on Twitter last weekend asking if the public if he should step down as CEO and when a majority of just over 57% voted for his departure he said he would abide by the result.

Abiding by poll results is not something one immediately associates with Donald Trump, whose campaign for the presidency in 2024 received a blow this week when a US House of Representatives committee stated it would release a redacted version of his tax information.

Donald Trump's tax returns are to be made public.

The exact nature of Trump’s taxes has long been the subject of fevered speculation, speculation fuelled by the fact that he has fought for years to keep those tax details secret; the conclusion generally drawn is that he has a specific reason to keep those details secret, one which might adversely affect his election prospects.

Only time — and the nature of the redaction, perhaps — will tell exactly.

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Neither setback need be seen as a knock-out punch. Musk has promised to step down as Twitter CEO but has not done so yet; Trump has a sizeable following whose loyalty would not be weakened by a tax scandal. Both are also sustained by an impregnable confidence that would help them steer through these choppy waters.

These are still telling blows, however. Musk’s reputation as a disruptive business genius is in tatters, while Trump is a far more marginal figure now on the American right. Neither is likely to look back with fondness on the run-in to Christmas 2022.