Foreign policy differences stirred a social media spat with one senator after Elon Musk’s “traitor” brand riled up responses on oaths following a trip abroad.
At the onset of the war in Ukraine, Musk directed his SpaceX company to provide Starlink service to aid with defense against Russia. Now, as the tech mogul and advisor to President Donald Trump is clearly aligned with a stop to endless wars, Arizona Senator Mark Kelly’s (D) fervor for ongoing funding found him lashing out at labels and challenging Musk’s motivations.
“Traitor? Elon, if you don’t understand that defending freedom is a basic tenet of what makes America great and keeps us safe, maybe you should leave it to those of us who do,” wrote the senator in response to the leader of the Department of Government Efficiency slamming him with the rebuke, “You are a traitor.”
Musk’s maligning was prompted by a thread from Kelly on a recent trip and “why it’s important we stand with Ukraine” that began by stating, “Just left Ukraine. What I saw proved to me we can’t give up on the Ukrainian people. Everyone wants this war to end, but any agreement has to protect Ukraine’s security and can’t be a giveaway to Putin.”
Of course, the senator didn’t drop the dispute after clapping back at the world’s richest man. Instead, he made an appearance on the network typically referred to by Trump as “MSDNC” where he joined “The Rachel Maddow Show” to gripe.
After giving the rundown of Kelly’s thread and his earlier response to Musk, the host brought the lawmaker in to suggest that it seemed like the “Oval Office has switched sides in this conflict” in the latest attempt to affix a Russian collusion narrative to the president.
Given a chance to respond directly to the billionaire, the senator told Maddow, “As I was getting sworn in to the United States Navy, I swore an oath to our Constitution, to protect and defend the Constitution. I have lived that oath my entire life.”
After a brief recap of his service record, Kelly went on, “And the only oath I can think of that maybe Elon has sworn is an oath to his own checking account, to his pocketbook. An oath, maybe, to ruining the lives of veterans… Elon needs to, you know, go back to making rockets.”
“He shouldn’t be focused on this slash and burn of the federal government,” added the lawmaker, who lamented the termination of federal employees while trying to suggest it was merely cover for delivering tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans.
Kelly’s gripe with Musk followed a similar outpouring of frustration from Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs Radoslaw Sikorski that found the billionaire calling the politician a “small man” for complaining about the “tiny fraction of the cost” in providing Starlink.
Backing Musk, Secretary of State Marco Rubio asserted, “Just making things up. No one has made any threats about cutting Ukraine off from Starlink. And say thank you because without Starlink, Ukraine would have lost this war long ago, and Russians would be on the border with Poland right now.”
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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