Alyssa Goldberg – USA TODAY
On Christmas Day, Elon Musk turned heads with a decadent photo by his tree. Dressed head-to-toe in a Santa costume, he captioned his photo “Ozempic Santa,” flaunting a slimmer figure.
The Tesla CEO was picked by president-elect Donald Trump to co-lead the inaugural Department of Government Efficiency shortly after the election. However, his pro-Ozempic post may clash with other potential members of the Trump administration, particularly the selected Health and Human Services Secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Kennedy has taken a strong anti-Ozempic stance in his pledge to tackle high rates of chronic disease, including diabetes and obesity. Throughout his own failed presidential run and his “Make America Healthy Again” campaign, he urged Americans to focus on their diets and other components of healthy living, such as regular exercise.
Is Elon Musk taking Ozempic?
So is Musk an Ozempic user? No, but, he’s taking the similar drug Mounjaro, he clarified.
Musk has frequently come under scrutiny for his body, especially after shirtless paparazzi photos circulated with critical commentary.
After his Ozempic Santa post, he confirmed that he is taking Mounjaro, a once-weekly non-insulin injection that is used alongside diet and exercise to improve blood sugar in adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus. The medication helps your body both regulate blood sugar and decrease how much food you eat, according to the manufacturer’s website. While it is not advertised as a weight loss drug, the company boasts that people taking Mounjaro lost up to 25 pounds.
He went on to say that he tried Ozempic first, but high doses made him “fart & burp like Barney from the Simpson’s.” “Mounjaro seems to have fewer side effects and be more effective,” he wrote.
Elon Musk v. RFK Jr.’s stance on Ozempic
In November, the Biden administration announced plans to provide coverage for costly anti-obesity medications, including Wegovy and Zepbound, for Americans enrolled in Medicare and Medicaid. But RFK Jr. hasn’t been so keen on the drug.
Kennedy instead focused on Americans’ food and diet during the “Make America Healthy Again” campaign. “If we just gave good food, three meals a day, to every man, woman and child in our country, we could solve the obesity and diabetes epidemic overnight,” he said to Greg Gutfeld on Fox News before the election.
On the other hand, Musk has been a fervent supporter of expanding access to weight loss drugs.
“Nothing would do more to improve the health, lifespan and quality of life for Americans than making GLP inhibitors super low cost to the public,” he wrote on X on Dec. 11. “Nothing else is even close.”
On Dec. 12, Kennedy lightened up on his stance during an interview with CNBC. “The first line of response should be lifestyle,” he said. “It should be eating well, making sure that you don’t get obese, and that those GLP drugs have a place.”
And while Musk’s body is in the spotlight now, it’s not the first time he’s admitted to using GLP-1 inhibitors to manage his weight. In October 2022, he was asked on X what his “secret” to looking so “ripped and healthy” was.
