It was a fool’s gold errand

A political pundit uttered this one when discussing Elon Musk’s ton of cash burned in the Texas midterm elections. This is a mashup of “fool’s gold” (an investment that looks profitable on the surface but is actually worthless or a trap) and “fool’s errand” (a fruitless task that has no chance of succeeding). The malaphor actually makes sense as the speaker was referring to an investment that had no chance of succeeding. A tip of the hat to Skip Kennedy for hearing this one and sending it in.