Elon Musk has been sarcastically labeled “father of the year” and accused of using his four-year-old son as a “prop” after a video appeared to show the billionaire absentmindedly walking off without the youngster at a major conservative conference.
Musk, whose own father recently suggested the SpaceX chief is not an involved parent, made a headline-grabbing appearance at the 2025 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington, D.C. last week. The 53-year-old, decked out in dark shades and a cap, waved a chainsaw around after it was gifted to him by controversial Argentinian president Javier Milei.
But the cringy stunt wasn’t the only thing observers noticed, as a clip of Musk walking away from his young son named X is now going viral. It shows Musk, who reportedly recently welcomed his 13th child into the world, barrel down a set of steps from the stage to lap up adulation from the crowd. The billionaire appears to forget that he is with the youngster, who is struggling to keep up.
President Donald Trump can be heard speaking on stage as Musk waves to the crowd and dips down a tunnel out of sight. Even as he exits the shot, the child is still gingerly navigating the steps.
“This clip legitimately disturbs—and saddens—me," one observer wrote on Musk’s social media site, also called X. “The so-called genius forgot his human shield son. What a loving father,” another said.
A third added that he thinks Musk is a “pure sociopath,” writing: “Musk insists on bringing his 4-year-old son with him everywhere to use as a PR prop/shield. And watch as he walks down these steps and totally abandons the kid, walking off without so much as glancing behind him to make sure his son made it down safely. Pure. Sociopath.”
Others sarcastically labeled Musk as “father of the year,” with one person adding: “Musk forgot to wrap his human shield son around his head this time, abandoning him instead. (The affection of the crowd is more meaningful).”
It comes after his ex-girlfriend, pop star Grimes, 36, called out the DOGE chief Thursday afternoon for lousy parenting in now-deleted posts on X.
“Plz respond about our child’s medical crisis,” she wrote under one of Musk’s posts. “I am sorry to do this publicly but it is no longer acceptable to ignore this situation. This requires immediate attention. If you don’t want to talk to me can you please designate or hire someone who can so that we can move forward on solving this. This is urgent, Elon.”
In another post, Grimes declined to provide further details but said Musk wasn’t responding to texts, calls, or emails and had “skipped every meeting.”
“Our child will suffer lifelong impairment if he doesn’t respond asap, so I need him to f–king respond and if I have to apply public pressure then I guess that’s where we are at,” she said.
It was not immediately clear which child she was referring to. The couple shares three children: X, three-year-old Exa Dark Sideræl, and two-year-old Techno Mechanicus.
A week earlier his own father even criticized his parenting in a chat on the Wide Awake podcast. The South African former engineer and emerald dealer said: “No, he hasn’t been a good father. The first child was too much with nannies and died in the care of a nanny. If Elon hears this, he’s going to shoot me or something.”
