NRI PULSE STAFF REPORT
Washington, D.C., February 6, 2025— Marko Elez, a software engineer associated with Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), has resigned following the emergence of racist social media posts, including inflammatory statements like “Normalize Indian hate” and “Just for the record, I was racist before it was cool”.
Elez’s resignation comes amid growing outrage from the Indian American community and wider tech industry, where professionals of Indian descent play a significant role. The controversial post, discovered on a deleted X (formerly Twitter) account linked to Elez, was part of a series of offensive messages that included racial slurs and xenophobic rhetoric.
The Wall Street Journal identified Elez as the owner of the @nullllptr account, which previously used the handle @marko_elez and described its owner as a SpaceX employee. Other posts from the account reportedly included remarks dismissing the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and Israel.
Following these revelations, Elez stepped down from his position at DOGE, where he had held administrator-level access to critical U.S. Treasury payment systems. His presence in a highly sensitive government role had already raised concerns among lawmakers, and the exposure of his offensive remarks has intensified scrutiny of DOGE’s vetting processes.
Indian American leaders, tech professionals, and advocacy groups have strongly condemned Elez’s remarks. “The blatant racism in these statements is alarming, especially considering the growing contributions of Indian Americans in science, technology, and public service,” said Rajiv Jain, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur, in an interview with The New York Times. “We cannot allow this kind of rhetoric to become normalized.”
The controversy also puts the spotlight on the broader issue of discrimination against Indian professionals in the U.S. tech industry. With Indian Americans leading some of the most influential technology companies—including Google, Microsoft, and Adobe—the offensive remarks from Elez have been met with widespread backlash.
“This is not just about one individual’s views; it reflects a disturbing undercurrent of resentment against immigrant professionals,” said Sunita Mehta, director of the Indian American Civil Rights Forum. “We call on companies and government institutions to ensure that individuals who hold such extremist views are not placed in positions of influence.”
