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Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., ruled out the idea that Democrats should work with Elon Musk after his explosive falling out with President Donald Trump, labeling the Tesla CEO a “right-wing extremist.”
Musk said that he “strongly supported Obama” but felt that the modern Democratic Party had been “hijacked by extremists” in an April 2022 post on X.
“Musk has evolved over the years. My understanding is he actually voted for Obama in 2008. But over the years, he has developed into a right-wing extremist,” Sanders told CNN “State of the Union” host Dana Bash after she asked if Democrats should work with the tech billionaire after his “breakup” with Trump.
Sen. Bernie Sanders rejected the prospect of Democrats working with Elon Musk. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
TIMELINE: INSIDE THE EVOLVING RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TRUMP AND MUSK FROM FIRST TERM TO THIS WEEK’S FALLOUT
Sanders dismissed the idea out of hand and said Trump and Musk’s drama was further proof that the United States was devolving into an oligarchic society. The self-proclaimed democratic socialist dismissed the episode as a fight among oligarchs, and slammed it as an “embarrassment” to people who believe in democracy and the rule of law.
“Musk said to Trump, ‘hey listen, I spent $270 million to get you elected. I bought you the presidency because we have a corrupt campaign finance system and billionaires can do that.’ And Trump said, ‘well, I gave you the right to run the government for three or four months, but I don’t like the guy you want to run NASA, and we’re going to get rid of him’ and Musk got upset,” Sanders said.
Sanders slammed Musk as a “right-wing extremist.” (BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)
Musk endorsed Trump after he survived his assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, and subsequently served as one of his top surrogates and spent hundreds of millions of dollars to get him elected. Trump selected Musk to serve as head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and tasked him with cutting waste, fraud and abuse from the federal bureaucracy. Musk’s tenure at DOGE was tumultuous. Although he found billions of dollars in spending cuts, his reductions in federal outlays fell far short of the trillion dollars he promised. Backlash to Musk’s work within the administration caused his businesses to suffer.
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Trump and Musk’s relationship took a turn for the worse after the president withdrew Musk-ally Jared Isaacman’s nomination to lead NASA. Musk proceeded to trash the “big beautiful bill” Trump is trying to get through Congress, claiming Trump only won because he donated $270 million to aid his campaign and alleging, without proof, that the president is featured in the so-called Epstein files in an X post he subsequently deleted.
Trump warned that Musk will have to face “very serious consequences” if he funds Democratic candidates as a result of their rupture.
Sanders agreed with Musk’s claim that President Trump only won the election because he spent $270 million towards his campaign. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
When asked by Bash if he feels that Musk is correct in claiming that Trump only won because of Musk’s money, Sanders responded affirmatively.
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