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Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) has criticized billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, accusing him of manipulating the Republican Party and describing the U.S. as an “oligarchy.” Sanders’s remarks follow the shelving of a 1,500-page spending bill due to opposition led by Musk and President-elect Donald Trump.
The bill, designed to prevent a government shutdown, faced backlash for being overloaded with “pork” and special-interest provisions. Musk, co-leading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) under the Trump administration, took to his social media platform, X (formerly Twitter), to campaign against the bill.
Over 100 posts from Musk lambasted the legislation, labeling it wasteful and urging Republicans to reject it. He further threatened to fund primary challengers against any Republican who voted in favor of the bill, sparking widespread controversy.
Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist, responded strongly on social media, accusing Musk of attempting to “buy off” lawmakers.
“The wealthiest man in the world, Elon Musk, began tweeting his opposition to this legislation,” Sanders said. “In fact, he was very blunt about it. He told Republicans that if they voted for this proposal, which they had already agreed to do, he would take out his wallet and spend as much money as it took to defeat them in primaries and drive them out of office. You got that?
Take a deep breath and appreciate what’s going on here. The wealthiest person in the world, who spent at least $277 million to elect Donald Trump and a Republican Congress, has now claimed complete ownership of that party.
What he is saying is, ‘Hey, Republicans, forget your constituents, forget your constitutional responsibility. If you don’t do what I, Elon Musk, want you to do, you’re out of office, and I have the money to do just that.’
My friends, what we are looking at here has nothing to do with democracy. What we are looking at here is oligarchy. This is, plain and simple, government by the billionaire class, for the billionaire class.”
Sanders further called the situation a troubling example of wealth dictating political decisions. “Welcome to the world of oligarchy,” he concluded.
