Elon Musk's "Vox Populi, Vox Dei" Tweet Has Lots of People Really Confused

Tesla CEO Elon Musk appears to have a lot of sway over the U.S. government at the moment. The world's richest man, who went all in on helping Donald Trump get re-elected president, also exerted his influence to kill a bipartisan spending bill that was designed to keep the government open.

Elon posted about the spending bill more than 100 times on Dec. 18, calling it "criminal" and suggesting that any elected leaders who supported it would have to be run out of office. After the spending bill died, largely, it seems, because of Elon's influence, he tweeted "Your elected representatives have heard you and now the terrible bill is dead. The voice of the people has triumphed! VOX POPULI. VOX DEI." Here's what all that means.

The Latin phrase that Elon used to close out his tweet celebrating the death of the spending bill is a Latin phrase that originated thousands of years ago as a proverb and was eventually used in the publication of the pamphlet Vox Populi, Vox Dei. The Latin phrase literally translates to, "The voice of the people [is] the voice of the gods."

It's a pro-democracy phrase that suggests that people in power derive their authority from the people they serve.

The Whig pamphlet even says: "There being no natural or divine Law for any Form of Government, or that one Person rather than another should have the sovereign Administration of Affairs, or have Power over many thousand different Families, who are by Nature all equal, being of the same Rank, promiscuously born to the same Advantages of Nature, and to the Use of the same common Faculties; therefore Mankind is at Liberty to choose what Form of Government they like best."

In his tweet, Elon was suggesting that the people had risen up to stop the spending bill from passing because that's what they wanted. It's unclear whether that's actually true, and it certainly also aligns with Elon's own interests for the bill to be halted. Even so, he claimed it as a populist victory, and in doing so, suggested that his position was the one that had popular support.

As his advocacy on behalf of the legislation makes clear, Elon is planning to have a very hands-on role in the government during a second Trump administration. The failure of this spending bill may ultimately lead to a government shutdown for the remainder of President Biden's time in office.

For now, though, Elon is claiming the mantle of the people and posting incessantly about politics and everything else. He may be its owner, but Elon would do well to remember an important lesson many who are addicted to Twitter learn eventually. There may be lots of people on Twitter, but that doesn't necessarily mean that it's real life. In fact, Elon has made sure of that by making sure the platform revolves around him as much as possible.