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Republican Representative Don Bacon sharply rebuked Elon Musk for insulting the Polish foreign minister and a Democratic U.S. Senator on social media for to their support of Ukraine.
Bacon’s comments came after Musk called Arizona Democrat Mark Kelly a “traitor” for visiting Ukraine and the Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski a “small man” for defending Ukraine’s use of Starlink.
Bacon, a Nebraskan who endorsed President Donald Trump in 2020 and 2024, said Musk’s attacks on U.S. lawmakers and allies were “not appropriate” and reflected poorly on the White House.
“It’s not decent, it’s not right,” Bacon told CNN. “I don’t agree with Senator Kelly on some things, but we don’t call each other a traitor, and I think it reflects bad on the White House.”
Musk blasted Kelly on X after the senator visited Ukraine and urged the U.S. government to continue backing Ukraine in its war with Russia. Kelly’s comment appeared to be an indirect response to Trump pausing U.S. military aid and intelligence sharing with Ukraine after a contentious meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky.
“He represents the White House when he says that. And also going after the foreign minister of Poland, I don’t think’s right either,” Bacon added, referring to Musk attacking Sikorski.
Musk told Sikorski to “be quiet, small man” on X during a tense exchange in which Sikorski defended Poland paying millions to provide Ukraine with Starlink technology and questioned Musk’s “ethics” of threatening to turn off the life-saving communication tech for the war-torn country.
“I thought, ‘Why is a White House official – that’s not even elected, and it’s not the president or vice president – Why is that person belittling the Polish foreign minister? It’s not appropriate, it’s not right. We need more discipline in the White House,” Bacon told CNN anchor Pamela Brown.
Bacon, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, criticized Musk and the Trump administration for turning their backs on Ukraine and “treating Putin with velvet gloves.”
Though the president promised to end the Ukraine–Russia conflict upon taking office in January, he has struggled to make progress. Trump has walked back much of the relationship that former president Joe Biden built with Zelensky, calling the Ukrainian president a “dictator” and publicly condemning him during an Oval Office meeting.
The Republican representative said Trump was ”walking away” from the foreign policy legacy left by former presidents Ike Eisenhower and Ronald Reagan and urged the administration to recognize Russia as a foreign adversary and Ukraine as an ally.
“It’s time that this administration gets this in their brain,” Bacon said.
Part of doing so, according to Bacon, is reigning in the rhetoric used by White House officials such as Musk.
“His job was to do an audit of what we’re spending on, I think we should have more discussion for when we fire people, cut people, know what the consequences are, but it doesn’t reflect well on our country when this goes on,” Bacon said.
