“What’s not okay is his baseless personal attacks against President Trump,” James Fishback told POLITICO.

James Fishback, the chief architect behind the proposal to send “DOGE checks,” told POLITICO Friday he’s stepping away from the movement after Elon Musk lashed out at President Donald Trump.

“The truth is that Elon set expectations that he relayed to the president, me, and the country that he did not come close to fulfilling. That’s disappointing, but okay,” Fishback said. “What’s not okay is his baseless personal attacks against President Trump.”

Fishback, the founder of a self-styled “free thinking” investment firm, gained prominence in conservative circles when he proposed the idea of distributing $5,000 stimulus payments to American taxpayers, funded by a share of DOGE’s projected government savings.

Though Fishback never formally joined DOGE, his “DOGE checks” generated support from Musk on X and prompted Trump to express interest in a “DOGE dividend.”

Fishback launched his anti-woke investment fund at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in December.