SpaceX CEO Elon Musk voiced his disapproval of acting NASA administrator Sean Duffy Tuesday in a calling him “Sean Dummy.”
The spat between Musk and Duffy began Monday, when Duffy appeared on CNBC News’s Squawk Box to announce that as part of a mission to land on the moon before President Donald Trump’s second term ends, NASA is opening up government contracts that were once solely held by SpaceX.
“I love SpaceX. It’s an amazing company. The problem is they’re behind. They’ve pushed their timelines out, and we’re in a race against China,” Duffy said. “So I’m going to open up the contract. I’m gonna let other space companies compete with SpaceX, like Blue Origin. And again, whatever one can get us there first to the moon, we’re going to take.”
We are in a race against China so we need the best companies to operate at a speed that gets us to the Moon FIRST.
SpaceX has the contract to build the HLS which will get U.S. astronauts there on Artemis III.
But, competition and innovation are the keys to our dominance in… pic.twitter.com/dAo0so5qqZ
— NASA Acting Administrator Sean Duffy (@SecDuffyNASA) October 20, 2025
When Duffy shared the clip on X, which is owned by Musk, it prompted a response.
“Blue Origin has never delivered a payload to orbit, let alone the Moon,” Musk wrote Monday.
Jeff Bezos founded Blue Origin in 2000 and currently only has plans for a cargo lunar lander.
Musk followed up his response with another post of a meme that reads: “Why are you gay?”
On Tuesday, Musk’s insults continued, and he began referring to Duffy as “Sean Dummy.”
“Sean Dummy is trying to kill NASA!” Musk wrote. “The person responsible for America’s space program can’t have a 2-digit IQ.”
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Duffy was appointed to the temporary position in July. He committed to prioritizing space exploration over “all the climate science and all of the other priorities that the last administration had.”
The Washington Examiner has reached out to NASA and Blue Origin for comment.