Elon Musk has overtaken President Donald Trump as the hero of America’s far-right movement.

A WIRED review of message boards, encrypted channels, social media platforms, online search trends, and public statements from influencers and lawmakers suggests that Musk and the actions of his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) organization have come to dominate discussions among far-right and extremist communities. Talk of Trump, as well as his policies and speeches have been, for the first time, relegated to an afterthought.

On The Donald, a rabidly pro-Trump message board and the home for the most extreme of the president’s supporters, the home page has been dominated by news stories and discussions about Musk and DOGE’s takeover of a number of government agencies. Trump is barely mentioned.

“Elon helped save the world,” one user wrote under a link to a news story about a Slovenian member of the European Parliament nominating Musk for the Nobel Peace Prize. “I agree with you that he has been the GOAT for Trump,” another user wrote.

In the space of a couple of weeks, Elon Musk has taken control of multiple government agencies, as a cadre of young and inexperienced engineers with ties to Musk have been given access to some of the most highly sensitive federal systems through DOGE. While Democratic leadership has railed in recent days that Musk was not elected and does not have a mandate to conduct this type of sweeping change within government, Musk’s fans have dismissed such criticism as trivial.

“The American people quite literally voted for Elon Musk and DOGE when they elected Donald Trump with a historic mandate,” right-wing commentator Charlie Kirk posted on X on Wednesday. “Buckle up, Democrats.”

Some Musk supporters are even contemplating the idea that Musk, who is constitutionally barred from being US president, could win the election in 2028.

“I didn’t vote for Elon,” one user on The Donald wrote this week. “But I will next time.”

On Telegram, far-right communities, who have fully embraced Musk since his Nazi-like salute during his inaugural festivities speech, have been praising the dismantling of USAID, which they believe exposes evidence of wild conspiracy theories they have been pushing for years. This includes the claim, boosted by Musk, that USAID was funding the development of bioweapons such as Covid-19, a conspiracy theory that all US intelligence agencies have concluded is false.

Some suggested that Trump supporters voted for the president just to get Musk into government: “I’m pretty sure many people voted for Trump because they knew Elon was going to be doing this,” one follower of Pizzagate promoter Jack Posobiec wrote in a comment on his Telegram channel.

The attention Musk is receiving in far-right circles reflects a broader interest in his activities over the course of the last week. Google Trends data shows that searches for the term “Elon Musk” have outpaced those for “Donald Trump” consistently. In recent days, searches for Musk were three times higher than those of Trump.

Even on Truth Social, Trump’s own social media platform, the trending topics section listed USAID and DOGE among the most popular topics on Wednesday morning, while #elonmusk was listed ahead of #Trump.

Extremists who want to see America reordered to their far-right worldview believe Musk is the person fulfilling the most radical promises that Trump made.

“The conspiracist community is putting Musk on the worship pedestal next to Trump,” says Mike Rothschild, a journalist and researcher who tracks online extremism. “As Musk’s personal politics have veered hard right, these communities have viewed him as the blunt instrument that Trump will use to smash the deep state. They aren’t paying attention to the trade war stuff because it’s complicated, and because Trump backed down almost right away.”

Members of far-right communities have begun referring to Musk in terms they previously used to talk about Trump.

For years, Trump’s supporters have dismissed any criticism of his embrace of extremist policies and conspiracy theories as “Trump derangement syndrome.” In recent weeks, those same supporters are now speaking about “Musk derangement syndrome,” regarding the left’s response to the X owner’s takeover of the US government.

“Elon Musk Derangement Syndrome has officially emerged,” a prominent QAnon influencer wrote on his Telegram channel on Tuesday, alongside a clip of Democratic lawmakers repeatedly mentioning Musk’s name during speeches given at a Tuesday protest outside the Treasury Department in DC.

On X, dozens of Musk’s supporters are responding to his posts and using the same phrase to dismiss any criticism.

GOP lawmakers have also singled out Musk for praise. “There’s a reason some dems are squealing like stuck pigs when it comes DOGE: @elonmusk is cutting out the pork … and it hurts,” Mark Alford, a US representative from Missouri, wrote on X.

While many Democratic lawmakers continue to slam Trump for his flood of executive orders that target vulnerable communities, they are increasingly focusing their attacks on Musk, who they view as an existential threat to US democracy.

“Elon Musk, you may have illegally seized power over the financial payments systems of the Treasury, but you don’t control the money of the American people,” said representative Jamie Raskin of Maryland during the protest at the Treasury on Tuesday. “The US Congress does that under Article 1 of the Constitution … We don’t have a fourth branch of government called ‘Elon Musk.’”