One of many Mean Girl references dominating the Musk-Trump feud feed (via X, all screenshots Isa Farfan/Hyperallergic)Elonald. Elump. Trelon. Trusk. Mump. Whatever combined moniker you gave Elon Musk and Donald Trump as they worked in tandem to diminish any vestige of a social safety net that remained in the United States, say goodbye to it, because it’s over.Musk announced his departure from the federal government last week in what initially appeared to be an amicable parting. Tensions between the two, however, flared quickly on the Musk-owned X platform after Trump withdrew his pick to run NASA — Jared Isaacman, a close associate of Musk — and as the billionaire, who favors slimming government funding, criticized Trump’s so-called “Big Beautiful Bill” as “pork-filled.” In response, Trump threatened to cut Musk’s government subsidies and contracts. What followed was a series of ad hominem attacks, resulting in Musk saying he would decommission a spacecraft built by his company SpaceX that was being used by NASA.He’s been through a lot this year. (screenshot via X)The standoff set off a flurry of meme trends surrounding Musk and Trump’s emotional volatility, including comparisons to the protagonists of Dumb and Dumber (1994). As a team, Trump and Musk effectively paralyzed the federal government in a series of funding cuts, some of which have been challenged by the courts for circumventing congressional powers. Musk, at least in the public eye, appeared to share a deep friendship with Trump as the unelected leader of the elusive Department of Governmental Efficiency (DOGE).Who is Elon, and who is Trump? (screenshot via Reddit)The internet has reduced the Trump-Musk fallout to teenage girl behavior and rom-com break-up plots. While these and other references harp on homophobic and misogynistic tropes, I’ll take anything that dismantles the egos of these men. Many of the memes idealize Trump and Musk as a “bromance,” a term that describes a non-romantic relationship between straight men (why can’t they just say friendship?!). Like similar homophobic terms that invalidate queerness, such as “no homo” and “girl crush,” the concept of “bromance” carries a latent energy that rejects same-sex attraction. It says: “Look, a relationship between two men that is not gay!”Exhibit A: use of the term “bromance” (screenshot via X)Yesterday, May 5, the fallout reached its peak when Musk, the richest man in the world, alleged that Trump appeared in classified files on serial sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein. At 3:10pm on Thursday, Musk wrote: “Time to drop the really big bomb: @realDonaldTrump is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public. Have a nice day, DJT!”Trump has appeared in photos with the convicted sex offender, who was imprisoned for trafficking young girls at the time of his apparent suicide, but some of the files surrounding the notorious criminal’s behavior remain sealed. Epstein reportedly referred to himself as Trump’s “closest friend.”Within two hours of Musk’s allegation, sports journalist Jamele Hill posted a screengrab of the moment Kendrick Lamar accused Drake of being a pedophile during his performance of “Not Like Us” at the Super Bowl halftime show. Grok, an AI owned by Musk’s firm xAI, responded to the post with a generated image recreating the scene, with Musk as Lamar. Say, [Trump]… (screenshot via X)Despite the seriousness of Musk’s allegations against Trump, much of the viral content circulating this week likens the fallout between arguably the two most influential men in global politics to a feminine conflict, invoking the “burn book” from Mean Girls (2004), in which a catty group of teenage girls create a scrapbook of their worst enemies.Confessions on confessions on confessions (screenshot via X)Another meme envisions stick figures of Trump and Musk splayed out on their beds, kicking their legs up as they lie on their stomachs, typing on their phones, a fixture posture of 2000s television’s unidimensional women characters like Sex And The City’s Carrie Bradshaw.Kicking their feet! (screenshot via X)The memes that have sprouted from the Trump/Musk feud poke fun at a ridiculous and corrupt relationship that has predictably soured and reveal the fragility of the egos and social functioning of powerful men. But these images also resort to the oldest trick in the book: calling your playground enemy a “sissy.” We can do better than that.It’s important to note that this use of AI is insane. (screenshot via X)Don’t put a bumper sticker on a Bentley. (screenshot via X)I couldn’t think of a better man for the job. (screenshot via X)Americans hardly ever bond with one another these days. (screenshot via X)(screenshot via X)I knew this ad would resurface at a good time. (screenshot via X)