'Defund Musk': Robert Reich calls for government takeover of SpaceX and Starlink — and Elon responds
Reich quickly followed this policy recommendation with another suggestion: "We've got to defund Musk."
"He's dependent on government contracts. He is dependent on us. We taxpayers are subsidizing Elon Musk," Reich stated, before revealing some of his gripes with the billionaire.
Reich's chief complaint was that Musk is "deciding by himself" whether or not the Ukrainian government should have access to his internet service, Starlink.
"How can one man make that kind of decision for all of us, for Ukraine, and we are subsidizing him?" Reich said.
Cutting to the chase, Reich repeated, "Defund Musk. I mean this," before adding that Democrats should start "laying the groundwork for nationalizing Starlink and SpaceX."
"Nationalize it," he reiterated. "It should be a public corporation. We should not ever have that kind of power in one person's hands, one private person's hands."
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After a clip of the podcast began circulating on X, Musk replied that "stealing companies is a serious crime."
"Prison for Reich," the X owner added.
The billionaire seemingly matched his rhetoric to that of the former government official, who called Musk "Exhibit A in terms of the billionaire takeover of America."
"This is the oligarchic problem," Reich went on. "Musk represents the power of oligarchy in America over democracy."
Reich then cited Musk's support for Texas Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton as example of him trying to "bribe his way into politics" like a baron from the late-1800s Gilded Age.
At the same time, pal Heather Kinlaw Lofthouse joined Reich in criticizing Musk for saying he would target anyone who picked a fight with him.
Lofthouse is the executive director for Inequality Media, Reich's "nonpartisan media and civic action organization".
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Following the calls for Musk's businesses to be taken over by the government, Lofthouse said Democrats were not trying to fight him, but rather were simply holding him accountable.
"It's not a fight. It is accountability. I mean, it is, holding him accountable is what people are talking about. And so he's getting ahead of it, threatening, threatening, threatening, threatening — with his money, with his power, with his reach."
Lofthouse pointed to Musk's estimated $38 billion in government contracts and his ending of USAID as just some of the "many things" Democrats need to "fix" if they regain power.
It is important to note that according to government records, Lockheed Martin received more than $70 billion in government contracts in 2023 under President Joe Biden. RTX was the second-biggest government contractor at $31.3 billion.
Lockheed Martin received over $52 billion under Biden in 2024, as well.
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