Speaking in Michigan Tuesday, U.S. Sen. JD Vance said heated rhetoric on the campaign trail has placed a target on former President Donald Trump.

In the past few weeks, Trump has confirmed that he plans to create a government efficiency task force headed by Musk to reform government spending. Musk has expressed enthusiasm about the role, tweeting, “I can’t wait. There is a lot of waste and needless regulation in government that needs to go.”

Vance downplayed his incendiary tall tales about immigrant enclaves preying on people’s pets — which have resulted in dozens of bomb threats in Springfield — as a “meme.” And he essentially argued that he has no obligation to make sure stories he’s fed are true if it advances his narrative that immigrants are undesirable.