Unelected White House advisor Elon Musk has seemingly been spending the vast majority of his time ransacking the federal government and excising what he claims to be "waste" and "fraud" with the help of his so-called Department of Government Efficiency.Turning his back on his businesses has come at a steep cost. His EV maker Tesla, in particular, has felt the hurt this week, nosediving a whopping 15 percent on Monday (though the stock has recovered a few points in the early trading hours of Tuesday).It's not just a blip, either; Wall Street has grown concerned about the carmaker's abysmal sales figures, which are in freefall in many parts of the globe.That's in large part due to Musk's endorsement of far-right extremism and twoNazi salutes during Trump's inauguration celebration, which have sparked protests and vandalism targeting Tesla dealerships across the country and world.During a Fox Business interview, Musk appeared to be on the verge of tears over the situation."You're giving up your other stuff? I mean, how are you running your other businesses?" broadcast personality Larry Kudlow asked him."With great difficulty," Musk answered, followed by a long pause and sigh. His voice wavered briefly before collecting himself."I'm just here trying to make government more efficient, eliminate waste and fraud, and so far we're making good progress," he claimed.Musk has spent much of his week trying to drum up excitement for his embattled carmaker, retweeting flattering posts in an apparent attempt to stop the bleeding.Meanwhile, it's not just Tesla watching the walls go down. The entire stock market stumbled this week, driven by fears of a recession brought on by the uncertainty of Trump's trade war. Over the weekend, the presidentrefused to rule out the possibility of an economic downturn, causing the Nasdaq and S&P 500 to tumble even further.Whether Musk will score much sympathy with his raw Fox appearance remains to be seen. His DOGE recently started rummaging through $1.6 trillion worth of Social Security payments, stoking concerns that the richest man in the world could soon be coming after the most vulnerable portion of the country.But actual fraud appears to be rare. As experts have pointed out, what Musk and his DOGE may be calling "fraud" appears to be falling far short of the legal definition.As always, it's impossible to get a full grasp on Musk's current emotional state. Is he really feeling remorse for having ditched his carmaker? Is his plunging net worth giving him pause?Or perhaps he simply hasn't slept in several days, resulting in the cracks starting to show on television.Musk has always been a notoriously weak public speaker in fact, this isn't even his first time fighting off tears on TV so his most recent appearance shouldn't come as much of a surprise. Is the billionaire even really thinking about Tesla and SpaceX while ransacking the government? Was that actual regret in his voice or did Kudlow somehow catch him by surprise?Considering his space company is already working on securing major government contracts this year, it's already looking like he's using the opportunity as a business advantage.But Tesla is a publicly traded company and investors still hold a considerable amount of influence. While the carmaker's board is stacked with Musk's closest supporters and family members, ensuring the billionaire remains in full control, investors and consumers alike can still hurt him where it matters.More on Musk: Elon Musk Freaking Out as Tesla CratersShare This Article