Elon Musk asked a Delaware judge on Wednesday to step aside from ongoing Tesla-related lawsuits, arguing she showed bias against him by interacting with an anti-Musk post on LinkedIn.
His legal team filed a recusal motion in the Delaware Court of Chancery, pointing to a screenshot that appears to show Judge Kathaleen McCormick reacting to a post celebrating Musk’s $2 billion loss in a separate case. They argued the incident wasn’t isolated and should be viewed in the context of a longer pattern.
McCormick has overseen several high-profile cases involving Musk, and his lawyers say concerns about her impartiality go back years. They also tied the situation to broader political tensions surrounding Musk, especially after he aligned himself with President Donald Trump during the 2024 election and into the early months of his administration.
According to the filing, McCormick appeared to engage with a post from a lawyer that mocked Musk over a fraud case in California. The judge is currently presiding over shareholder lawsuits accusing Musk of overpaying himself and Tesla board members. Musk’s team also noted that a member of McCormick’s staff interacted with another post critical of him.
In their filing, the lawyers described the posts as more than routine criticism, calling them inflammatory and directly tied to issues central to the current litigation.
Elon Musk demands judge’s recusal over ‘support’ of LinkedIn post that mocked him after $2B verdicthttps://t.co/WWxEso7Gun
– the judge is a liberal, of course she promoted it, and then lied about it. pic.twitter.com/nlFJzAG41S— JimStrohmeier (@USAF_Veteran57) March 26, 2026
McCormick later deactivated her LinkedIn account and addressed the situation in a letter to attorneys. She said she either did not click the reaction button or may have done so unintentionally, adding that she does not believe it was accidental.
The tension between Musk and McCormick dates back to earlier cases. In 2022, she oversaw the lawsuit that forced Musk to go through with his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter, now X, after he tried to back out. Musk has since said he felt he couldn’t win that case in Delaware because he believed the judge was biased against him.
In a separate ruling in 2024, McCormick twice voided a massive Tesla pay package for Musk and the board, citing breaches of fiduciary duty and concluding that Musk effectively controlled the board. The Delaware Supreme Court later reinstated the pay package but agreed with her underlying findings.
Musk has publicly criticized McCormick before, at one point calling the situation “absolute corruption” in response to a post highlighting her past ties to a law firm that donated to Joe Biden.
His broader frustrations with the judge have unfolded alongside his increasingly visible role in politics. After speaking out against Democrats ahead of the 2022 midterms and backing Trump in 2024, Musk went on to lead the Department of Government Efficiency in 2025. That role drew sharp criticism from Democratic lawmakers and protesters, and Tesla locations were targeted during demonstrations.
Musk and Trump later had a public split over a major spending bill, though they’ve since appeared together at public events.
