Elon Musk said it was ‘only a matter of time’ before Steve Bannon returns to prison after the former Trump adviser was seen in photos with Jeffrey Epstein.

Musk escalated his long-running feud with Bannon on Friday after Democrats released a photo from Epstein’s Manhattan townhouse depicting Bannon seated across from the disgraced financier.

‘Only a matter of time before Bannon goes back to prison,’ Musk wrote beneath the photo.

The image was released on Friday as part of a batch of photographs recovered from Epstein’s estate, reigniting online scrutiny of Epstein’s past associations.

The undated photo shows Epstein and Bannon meeting during 2018 or 2019, when Bannon was advising Epstein on media strategy and how to rehabilitate his public image following Epstein’s earlier conviction.

A framed photograph visible on the corner of Epstein’s desk appears to show a person lying down, with the individual’s face obscured by a black box.

The contents of the photo on the desk cannot be definitively determined, but social media users have described it as ‘disturbing’ and ‘vile,’ fueling renewed outrage.

Bannon has not been accused of any wrongdoing in relation to Epstein.

Musk’s comment came amid a long-running and increasingly personal feud between the billionaire and Bannon, who previously served as Donald Trump’s chief strategist and remains a powerful voice within the MAGA movement.

Elon Musk escalated his long-running feud with Steve Bannon on Friday, saying it was ‘only a matter of time’ before the former Trump adviser returns to prison

Bannon previously served four months in federal prison after being convicted in July 2022 on two counts of contempt of Congress for refusing to comply with a subpoena from the House select committee investigating the January 6 Capitol attack.

He was sentenced to a $6,500 fine and incarceration, serving time from July 1 to October 29, 2024, at a Connecticut facility.

That conviction followed Bannon’s brief but influential stint working alongside Trump  during the early months of Trump’s first term in 2017.

Musk’s remark is the latest escalation in a long-running and deeply personal feud between the billionaire tech executive and the MAGA power broker.

The two men have clashed repeatedly over immigration policy, H-1B visas, government spending and Musk’s business ties to federal contracts.

At one point there appeared to be some jealously over Musk’s growing influence within Trump’s orbit, although since Musk’s departure from the White House that appears to have subsided.

Musk has publicly called Bannon ‘a criminal.’ Bannon, in turn, has labeled Musk a ‘parasitic illegal immigrant,’ accused him of undermining American workers and vowed to remove him from Trump’s inner circle.

In January, Bannon told the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera that he intended to ‘take this guy down,’ referring to Musk, and said he would have him ‘run out’ of Trump’s orbit before the inauguration.

Instead, Musk managed to deepen his role within Trump’s political world after becoming a vocal supporter following an assassination attempt against Trump in summer 2024.

Trump later tapped Musk to co-lead the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a temporary initiative aimed at cutting federal spending and reducing government waste.

All the while Bannon mocked DOGE as ‘performative’ and accused Musk of failing to deliver on sweeping cost-cutting promises, while Musk has dismissed Bannon as irrelevant and corrupt.

Despite the hostility, Bannon remains a prominent figure in pro-MAGA circles and continues to command a loyal audience through his War Room podcast.

[H/T Daily Mail]