Elon Musk believes it is “not in the best interest of the people” for the government to pass another stimulus package to counter the economic fallout caused by the coronavirus, he said Friday.
Mr. Musk, who is estimated to be worth more than $63 billion, offered his opinion on social media in a posting that prompted cries of hypocrisy and other criticisms directed toward the tech magnate.
“Another government stimulus package is not in the best interests of the people imo,” Mr. Musk said on Twitter, using an abbreviation for “in my opinion.”
Mr. Musk, the chief executive officer of both Tesla and SpaceX, was accordingly lambasted from the left on account of his companies having benefited tremendously from federal government subsidies.
“What a hypocrite,” reacted Sen. Bernard Sanders, Vermont independent and former Democratic presidential hopeful. “Elon Musk has received billions in corporate welfare from U.S. taxpayers. Now he wants to stop 30 million Americans who lost jobs from receiving $600 a week in unemployment benefits, while his wealth has gone up by $46.7 billion over the past 4 months. Pathetic.”
“Thanks, billionaire,” the Democratic-controlled House Ways and Means Committee reacted in a different tweet directed at Mr. Musk. “Your opinion is noted.”
Mr. Musk, 49, has previously credited a $465 million federal loan with allowing Tesla, his electric car company, to survive the Great Recession.
More than a decade later, Tesla announced earlier this week it made a profit of $104 million during the second quarter of 2020 notwithstanding the coronavirus pandemic cratering the U.S. economy.
Mr. Musk later clarified his tweet objecting to another stimulus package by reasoning it would be “jammed to gills with special interests earmarks,” adding: “If we do a stimulus at all, it should just be direct payments to consumers.”
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, California Republican, told CNBC this week that he expects Congress will pass another coronavirus relief bill before early next month.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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