Musk, Ramaswamy react to Melania Trump's post-Jan. 6 debanking experience

The concept of “debanking,” in which a financial institution closes an account due to perceived legal, monetary, or reputational risk, has been in the headlines recently with regard to cryptocurrency entrepreneurs, but it has also impacted famous names one might not expect.

According to the Times of India, Melania and Barron Trump were both on the receiving end of this practice back in 2021, a fact which has prompted expressions of outrage from no less than Vivek Ramaswamy and Elon Musk, both poised to play significant roles in Donald Trump's incoming administration.

Trumps debanked

Melania Trump explained what happened to bank accounts belonging to her and to her son in her recently released memoir, Melania, as the New York Post noted.

In the weeks following the Jan. 6, 2021, unrest, Mrs. Trump was stunned to learn that not only was her bank refusing to allow Barron to open a new account, but it had also taken the further step of terminating hers.

Mrs. Trump explained, “This decision appeared to be rooted in political discrimination, raising serious concerns about civil rights violations.”

The former -- and now future -- first lady did not reveal the name of the financial institution that debanked her and denied an account to Barron, saying that the move was part and parcel of the “venom of cancel culture” directed toward her family.

In addition to banks, she wrote, “The 'cancel mob' now includes corporations, traditional media, influential social media figures, and cultural institutions. This disheartening trend reflects the current socio-political landscape in the United States.”

DOGE chiefs react

Ramaswamy and Musk, co-chiefs of the nascent Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to be established in the new Trump administration, have stepped forward to express their anger at the treatment to which Melania and Barron Trump were subjected.

Referencing Mrs. Trump's experience, Ramaswamy declared, “This is getting farcical," and Musk, for his part, said simply, “Crazy,” and “This is beyond insane.”

The enterprising duo is poised to lead a new endeavor targeting areas of potential cost cutting across the federal government.

DOGE will also be tasked with seeking efficiencies in government and streamlining areas in which redundancies are rife.

Whether the incoming Trump administration will seek to go after financial institutions found to have engaged in discriminatory debanking remains unclear, and it is far from certain that DOGE would have the necessary jurisdiction to take any such action.

Debanking dangers exposed

The dangers of debanking were exposed further in a recent interview businessman Marc Andreessen gave to podcaster Joe Rogan in which he explained how political arms such as the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau “basically terrorize finance, terrorize financial institutions, prevent fintech, prevent new competition, [and prevent] new startups that want to compete with the big banks,” doing so by debanking anyone deemed a threat.

After the interview, social media platforms exploded with accounts from those who had also been debanked for spurious reasons, including one from well-known conservative commentator and filmmaker Dinesh D'Souza, who said his account at Chase was closed without any justification given, a practice that clearly warrants scrutiny -- and perhaps an enforcement crackdown -- by the incoming administration.