Bernie Sanders urges Democrats not to work with ‘right-wing extremist' Musk after Trump fallout
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.
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.
Read On The Fox News App
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.
Click Here For More Coverage Of Media And Culture
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.
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.Original article source: Bernie Sanders urges Democrats not to work with 'right-wing extremist' Musk after Trump fallout
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
21 minutes ago
- Yahoo
World's Top Cable Maker Sees US Copper Tariff as Opportunity
(Bloomberg) -- The world's biggest maker of copper cable is applauding President Donald Trump's planned 50% tariff on the metal, saying it will bolster the American supply chain, with costs passed on to customers. Why Did Cars Get So Hard to See Out Of? How German Cities Are Rethinking Women's Safety — With Taxis Advocates Fear US Agents Are Using 'Wellness Checks' on Children as a Prelude to Arrests Italy's Prysmian SpA — which last year shelled out $4 billion-plus to buy Texas-based Encore Wire Corp. — is in regular contact with the administration ahead of the measure's implementation on Aug. 1, said Maria Cristina Bifulco, head of investor relations and sustainability. Trump sparked chaos in metals markets last week by announcing the higher-than-expected copper tariff, the latest twist in a tumultuous period for industrial commodities. Since February, when Trump declared 'it's time for copper to come home' and aired the potential for levies, global traders have sent record volumes of the metal to the US to get ahead of the tariff. Like the rest of the industry, Encore and its Milan-listed owner are waiting for details. Still, given the 'spirit is to protect and facilitate local business,' it's expected to be applied to both semi-finished products like cable as well as raw metal, Bifulco said. 'We find the administration very open, very sensitive,' Bifulco said in an interview Monday. 'They understand very well the situation. So in this respect, we are positive.' Prysmian, which churns out about 220,000 metric tons a year of cable at a sprawling facility outside of Dallas, says it stands to benefit from tariffs relative to competitors because it sources a larger part of its copper domestically — from Phoenix-based Freeport-McMoRan Inc. — and is vertically integrated. 'This will further reinforce the leadership of the local players,' she said. 'We are better placed than other players.' Stakeholders in the industry are divided. Some say any meaningful increase in domestic production would take years and require additional incentives given how difficult and expensive it is to build and operate mines and plants in the US. Incumbent producers such as Freeport and Rio Tinto Group stand to benefit from a premium on US-made metal, while analysts warn it will be consumers who will have to pick up the tab. Copper prices in the US have surged ahead of the tariff. So far, Encore has been able to pass those on, although strength of future demand remains to be seen. Eventually, aluminum may be substituted for copper in some applications, Bifulco said. 'Since the final customer is the one paying the increase in prices, you need to make sure to carefully assess demand to make sure that it's resilient enough,' she said. While it's too soon to start replacing what Prysmian does import from Latin America, logically that would come from refined scrap in arrangements similar to what the company has with German copper processor Aurubis AG, she added. Prysmian has leaned on acquisitions for growth after being carved out of tire-maker Pirelli in 2005. The company bought Encore Wire last year to boost its exposure to the low-voltage electrical applications on which data centers largely rely. 'Cables are becoming all of a sudden sexy,' Bifulco said. 'We are at the center of these electrification and digitalization processes and the leader in our space. We are very busy.' (Adds quote in sixth paragraph) 'Our Goal Is to Get Their Money': Inside a Firm Charged With Scamming Writers for Millions Thailand's Changing Cannabis Rules Leave Farmers in a Tough Spot 'The Turbulence Is Brutal': Four Shark Tank Businesses on Tariffs Trump's Cuts Are Making Federal Data Disappear Trade War? No Problem—If You Run a Trade School ©2025 Bloomberg L.P. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
San Francisco Chronicle
24 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Gavin Newsom teased a redistricting fight with Texas. Can he even do that?
SACRAMENTO — Gov. Gavin Newsom suggested he's contemplating a response to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's efforts to redraw congressional maps to favor Republicans, but California's laws will make any counter moves by Newsom difficult — if not impossible. Newsom began making comments last week after Abbott announced plans for the Republican-dominated Texas Legislature to draw new congressional maps in a special legislative session. Texas, like other states, redrew its maps after the 2020 census. New map-drawing normally wouldn't happen until the next census in 2030 absent a successful lawsuit forcing a state to redo them. But the New York Times has reported Trump's political advisers are pushing for Texas to redraw its maps ahead of the midterms to be more favorable to Republicans. The California Legislature, where Democrats hold supermajorities in both chambers, 'could gerrymander like no other state,' Newsom told liberal news outlet the Tennessee Holler in an interview that published Thursday, referring to the practice of redrawing districts to favor a certain political party. 'I saw what Gov. Abbott did today … These guys are not f---ing around,' Newsom said. 'They're playing by a different set of rules … We've been playing fair but it made me question that entire program. These guys are going to do everything in their power to maintain their power.' Newsom added that it's imperative for his party to take back control of the House of Representatives. Currently, Republicans hold 220 seats in the House compared to Democrats' 212, a number that shrunk in recent months after three Democrats died in office, leaving vacancies. But that majority will be tough for the GOP to hold in the midterms, when a president's party typically has trouble holding onto seats. Newsom has become more aggressively political in recent weeks. After trying to play nice with Trump in the first months of his second presidency, Newsom abandoned those efforts last month when the president deployed National Guard troops to the streets of Los Angeles in response to protests. Since then, he has given a primetime address accusing Trump of assaulting democracy; launched a social media onslaught against the president and other Republican officials; and gone on a tour through parts of South Carolina he billed as an effort to challenge the GOP on its home turf. In a post where he included a video of his comments to the Holler, Newsom wrote: 'Texas is using a special session about emergency disaster aid to redistrict their state and cheat their way into more Congressional seats. These guys have no shame. CA is watching — and you can bet we won't stand idly by.' But California's laws constrain Newsom from responding in kind to any efforts in Texas to redraw maps to favor Republicans. Voters in California took that power from the state Legislature in 2008 and handed it to an independent redistricting commission, which draws the lines for California's congressional and state legislative districts. Though Newsom is correct that Democrats dominate the Legislature, they do not dominate the redistricting commission. By law, the commission comprises five Democrats, five Republicans and four commissioners not affiliated with either party. Sara Sadhwani, a politics professor at Pomona College who serves as one of the Democratic commissioners, said the governor doesn't have any power over the commission's activities and can't force it to draw new maps in Democrats' favor. 'In this national context, I can understand the governor's inclination to want to retaliate,' she said. 'However the people of California have made it clear at the ballot that the governor does not have that power.' California's system is somewhat unusual — in most states, the parties can wield significant influence over the redistricting process, especially in places where one party controls state government. 'I certainly understand and recognize that the balance of power hinges on redistricting, and when all states are not playing fair, the fact that California does puts Democrats at a disadvantage,' Sadhwani said.
Wall Street Journal
25 minutes ago
- Wall Street Journal
Trump's Immigration Reform Opportunity
Only Nixon could go to China, and maybe only Trump can finally get a polarized Congress to pass real immigration reform. Who knows whether he will try, but the opportunity is there, as public opinion shifts in response to the President's border success and mass deportation efforts. 'With illegal border crossings down sharply this year, fewer Americans than in June 2024 back hard-line border enforcement measures,' Gallup said Friday, 'while more favor offering pathways to citizenship for undocumented immigrants already in the U.S.' Only 30% of Americans now favor decreasing immigration, down from 55% amid President Biden's border mess. Asked if immigration is good or bad for the country, 79% of U.S. adults say good, which is Gallup's record high. Offering citizenship to 'Dreamers,' those brought to the U.S. illegally as children, is favored by 85%, up four points in the past year. By the way, that includes 71% of Republicans and 85% of independents. Overall support for 'deporting all immigrants who are living in the United States illegally' has fallen to 38%, down nine points. This may signal a public backlash amid news reports about Immigration and Customs Enforcement's nationwide raids on workplaces and public spaces that have led to protests. Americans want a country of laws and opposed President Biden's open-borders chaos. But they also are compassionate, don't want to break up families, and shrink from harsh roundup tactics.
