Imagine the fear of becoming a personal target of the richest man in the world - and his followers. That's what federal government employees are feeling after Elon Musk publicised their names.
As the co-chair of the Department of Government Efficiency, Musk has suggested mass-firings as he is publicly identifying "fake jobs" and associated federal employees on X.
Last week Elon Musk reposted the names and titles of employees holding climate-related government positions on X. These posts are made from an account with the handle Fentasyl and the name “Datahazard,”. They have received quite some negative attention with one woman even deleting her social media accounts.
According to CNN, current federal employees are apprehensive about being personal targets.
"These tactics are aimed at sowing terror and fear at federal employees. It's intended to make them fearful that they will become afraid to speak up," said Everett Kelley, president of the American Federation of Government Employees.
But this is Musk's habitual way of operating where he singles out individuals who stand in his way.
"It's his way of intimidating people to either quit or also send a signal to all the other agencies that 'you're next'," said Mary "Missy" Cummings who unintentionally provoked Musk by criticising Tesla when she was at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Cummings said that she received death threats and a slew of attacks and had to relocate temporarily before moving houses. "He intended for them, for people just like this, to be intimidated and just go ahead and quit so he didn't have to fire them. So his plan, to some extent, is working," she said.
One of Musk's posts on X reads, "I don't think the US taxpayers should pay for the employment of a 'Director of Climate Diversification (she/her)' at the US International Development Finance Corporation," which he posted alongside a screenshot of the employee's name and location.
Vivek Ramaswamy has said that, "Most federal employees, like most human beings, are fundamentally good people and deserve to be treated with respect, but the real problem is the bureaucracy", although he did not comment on employees being singled-out by Musk.
