EXCLUSIVE: A body language expert has claimed Elon Musk’s rare TV interview with Fox’s Larry Kudlow showed the billionaire on the ropes and looking ‘frustrated’
A “damp-eyed” Elon Musk looked “unhappy in his government role” during a rare television interview with Fox News’ Larry Kudlow.
The Tesla boss sat down with the US anchor on Monday (March 10), with the conversation focusing on Musk’s role in the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Throughout, the eccentric billionaire looked “uneasy” and at one point looked “on the verge of tears” according to body language expert Inbaal Honigman, speaking on behalf of Sportsbook Review.
A viral clip shows the SpaceX founder appearing to fight back blubbing, after Kudlow asks him about his other non-political ventures. After Donald Trump got back into office Musk started heading up DOGE, a small team tasked with “tackling government inefficiency and waste”.
Expert Honigman’s analysis of Musk’s body language suggests his new job under Trump might be sidetracking him from his long-held passion of achieving interplanetary travel for humans, or even as the owner of X, which experienced several outages yesterday.
“You’re giving up your other stuff – how are you running your other businesses?” asked Kudlow. After an awkward pause, Musk replied “erm, with great difficulty”, before sighing and shrugging.
Honigman claimed Musk is “absolutely not pretending to be upset. He is not seeking sympathy. He is truly uneasy, and it shows.”
She added: “He is on the verge of tears, and they are tears of frustration. His eyes are damp and slightly red, showing that he is emotional, but this is not a display of sadness. His body language suggests that he does not believe he is doing a bad job.
“Instead, he feels he is doing his best and wishes people would stop questioning him about it.”
A “frustrated” Musk then “takes a deep breath to regulate his breathing, which indicates that he is trying to reduce tension,” added Honigman.
At one point host Kudlow even had to jump back into the conversation to help bail out a silent Musk. “Musk repeatedly shrugs his shoulders while raising an eyebrow. The shoulder shrug appears apologetic, suggesting that in his mind, the criticism directed at him is unfair,” said Honigman. “His raised eyebrow indicates surprise, as if he genuinely does not understand why people might be unhappy with him.
Honigman continued: “Musk’s body language strongly suggests that he is unhappy in his government role” and would prefer to focus on his businesses, where he feels respected and valued.”
It comes after Musk claimed that IP addresses linked to yesterday’s “cyberattack” against X “originated in the Ukraine area”.
The social media site went down a number of times on Monday (March 10). Earlier, owner Musk confirmed that the site was battling against a “massive cyberattack” and he suggested a “country was involved”.
