Tag Archives: Elon Musk

Raw Story: Travesty’: Ex-presidents issue rare rebuke of Trump as major agency axed

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Obama:

A pair of former U.S. presidents issued a rare rebuke of President Donald Trump on Monday in a farewell meeting to former employees of the U.S. Agency for International Development.

Former president Barack Obama called Trump’s decision to shutter the agency “a travesty.” He also credited the agency with both saving lives and creating economic growth across the globe.

Bush:

Former president George W. Bush chided Trump for gutting a program within USAID known as the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, which he credited with saving 25 million lives across the world.

“You’ve showed the great strength of America through your work — and that is your good heart,’’ Bush said in a pre-recorded message. “Is it in our national interests that 25 million people who would have died now live? I think it is, and so do you.”

Our resident fascist:

Trump has raged against USAID since the day he took office for his second term. One of the first executive orders Trump signed described U.S. foreign aid offices as being “not aligned with American interests and in many cases antithetical to American values.”

He then sent Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, to investigate USAID’s spending and recommend ways to reduce the agency’s financial prowess. Musk described USAID as “a criminal organization” and “a viper’s nest of radical-left Marxists who hate America.”

And one of the fascist’s royal suck-ups:

The pressure had its intended impact. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who previously described USAID as an agency with “amazing achievements,” swiftly recommended cutting 83% of programs under the agency’s umbrella.

Travesty’: Ex-presidents issue rare rebuke of Trump as major agency axed

https://www.rawstory.com/usaid-2672503313

USA Today: Vance: Medicaid cuts in Senate tax bill ‘immaterial’ compared to ICE increases

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In a series of social media posts, Vice President JD Vance said the cost of the GOP spending bill, including the effect of the largest cuts to Medicaid in history, are “immaterial” compared to the money he says it will save through expanded funding for immigration enforcement.

“The thing that will bankrupt this country more than any other policy is flooding the country with illegal immigration and then giving those migrants generous benefits. The (bill) fixes this problem. And therefore it must pass,” Vance said in a June 30 post on the social media site X, a few hours before he cast the tie-breaking vote to move the spending bill back to the House.

“Everything else ‒ the (Congressional Budget Office) score, the proper baseline, the minutiae of the Medicaid policy ‒ is immaterial compared to the ICE money and immigration enforcement provisions,” he said in a second post.

This assumes that “illegal” immigrants contribute nothing to the economy, which is totally false. Removing “illegal” immigrants will cause a net loss of hundreds of billions of dollars for California alone (not to mention other states), and it is on top of that loss that millions of Americans will be losing their health insurance.

J.D. Dunce is a f*ck*ng sh*t for brains disgrace. Nobody in Greenland wanted them over for lunch, and I wouldn’t either.

Vance: Medicaid cuts in Senate tax bill ‘immaterial’ compared to ICE increases
Vice President JD Vance said cuts to Medicaid and budget impacts in the Senate tax bill don’t compare to the importance of ICE spending.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/07/01/vance-medicaid-cuts-ice-spending-tax-bill/84429757007

Forbes: Trump-Musk Feud: Musk Says Trump’s Comments About Him Are ‘Just Plain Wrong’

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Elon Musk on Wednesday suggested that President Donald Trump’s criticism of subsidies received by his companies was wrong, as he continued to mock supporters of the president’s signature spending bill, a day after the president said he’ll look into potentially deporting the Tesla CEO and threatened probes into his companies amid a reignited feud between the two.

I love a good cat fight, and when it’s two corrupt kleptocrats clawing at one another, that’s all the better!

Musk Says Trump’s Comments About Him Are ‘Just Plain Wrong’ And ‘Disappointing’
The billionaire, whose ties with the president have frayed in the past month, attacked GOP lawmakers backing the Trump’s spending bill while boosting its critics.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2025/07/02/trump-musk-feud-musk-says-trumps-comments-about-him-are-just-plain-wrong

Daily Beast: John Oliver Dismantles MAGA’s Best Defense of Trump Budget Bill

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The late-night host argued why the Trump administration’s claims make no sense.

As the U.S. Senate continued to debate late into the night Sunday over President Donald J. Trump’s massive tax and spending bill, John Oliver poked massive holes in claims by the president and his Republican loyalists.

In Oliver’s monologue during his final episode of Last Week Tonight before his annual summer break, the Emmy-winning HBO host played clips of House Speaker Mike Johnson alleging on Meet The Press that the bill actually “strengthens Medicaid for the people who actually need it and deserve it,” a talking point echoed by, among others, Kansas Republican Sen. Roger Mitchell on Newsmax. Trump, for his part, said in a February interview with Sean Hannity while sitting alongside Elon Musk that: “Medicare, Medicaid, none of that stuff is going to be touched.”

“But there’s a few problems there,” Oliver said. “Starting with the fact that following through with a promise not to touch something has never exactly been one of Trump’s strong suits. Also the math just doesn’t support those claims.”

Oliver cited congressional budget analysis estimating more than 16 million Americans would become uninsured by 2034 should Congress pass Trump’s bill, and that rural hospitals and community services also would lose their funding as a result.

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The Republican bill, which would still need to go through reconciliation procedures with the House should it pass the Senate, would force low-income Medicaid recipients to prove they’d worked, volunteered or attended school for 80 hours a month. Oliver cited a November 2024 report by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, however, that found two-thirds of people on Medicaid already work, while most of the remainder are busy in school, functioning as family caretakers or living with a disability.

“And yet Republicans won’t stop painting lurid scenarios of Medicaid freeloaders,” Oliver said. 

John Oliver Dismantles MAGA’s Best Defense of Trump Budget Bill
The late-night host argued why the Trump administration’s claims make no sense.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/john-oliver-dismantles-magas-best-defense-of-trump-budget-bill

People: Trump Threatens to Arrest 2 Political Opponents in Same Press Conference, Hours After Entertaining Elon Musk Deportation

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President Donald Trump went on several tirades about former friends and political opponents alike on Tuesday, July 1, even threatening to jail a rising political star and a former Biden Cabinet member.

After touring a new detention facility for detainees of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Florida, Trump sat down with reporters at “Alligator Alcatraz” to answer a few questions.

Asked about New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani — who had just officially earned the Democratic nomination on Tuesday — the president said, “A lot of people are saying he’s here illegally.”

Mamdani, 33, was born in Uganda and became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2018. He defeated former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo in a major election upset as a self-described Democratic Socialist, which also earned Trump’s ire.

“We don’t need a communist in this country,” he said. “But if we have one, I’m going to be watching over him very carefully on behalf of the nation… We’re going to look at everything.”

Trump was also asked about Mamdani’s campaign promises to “stop masked ICE agents from deporting our neighbors.”

His response? “Well then, we’ll have to arrest him.”

Bubba is deranged, needs to be put out to pasture.

Trump Threatens to Arrest 2 Political Opponents in Same Press Conference, Hours After Entertaining Elon Musk Deportation
The president disparaged a rising political star and a former Biden Cabinet member while speaking with reporters on July 1

https://people.com/trump-threatens-arrest-2-political-opponents-in-same-press-conference-11764784

Daily Beast: Musk Accuses Trump Aide of Federal Crime as Feud Explodes

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The former boss of the Department of Government Efficiency has ramped up his attacks on White House staffer Sergio Gor.

Elon Musk has accused one of President Donald Trump’s top aides of committing a federal crime.

Weeks after the epic breakup between the president and the world’s richest man, Musk has continued to snipe at Sergio Gor, the director of the presidential personnel office, who he believes fueled his falling out with Trump.

Earlier this week, Musk described Gor as a “snake” after the New York Post reported that, even though Gor is in charge of vetting thousands of executive branch employees, he himself hasn’t been fully vetted.

But on Friday, the former head of the Department of Government Efficiency ramped up his attacks, writing on X: “He deliberately lied about where he was born on Federal forms. That’s a serious crime.”

“Gor is breaking the law,” Musk later added.

The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House about Musk’s latest comment, which came in response to a series of posts by Ukraine-born American race car driver Igor Sushko accusing Gor of being a “Russian spy.”

Sushko had posted a series of articles relating to the White House aide, including a New York Post story questioning where Gor was born; details of a fact-finding trip he took to Russia while working for Senator Rand Paul; an archive of Gor’s high-school email suggesting it referred to him as “Russian-Maltese”; and a now-retracted investigation by former Washington Post reporter-turned-independent journalist Brian Krebs.

Central to Musk’s attack is the claim that Gor failed to file his own SF-86, the critical vetting form required for permanent U.S security clearance. This was despite Gor being responsible for vetting thousands of executive branch employees.

Among other things, the form covers citizenship, employment history, relatives, foreign contacts and travel, financial activities, and drug use. The White House, however, insisted earlier this week that Gor filled out the form, has the relevant clearance, and is a “trusted adviser to President Trump.”

Underpinning Musk’s accusation is a long-standing rift with Gor, who says the 38-year-old fueled his spectacular falling out with Trump earlier this month.

Things got particularly messy when Gor encouraged Trump to rescind his nomination for Jared Isaacman—Musk’s personal friend—to lead the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) just days before his Senate confirmation vote. Trump at the time cited Isaacman’s “prior associations”—a reference to Isaacman’s past donations to Democrats—as the reason for withdrawing his nomination.

And that last tidbit is probably the real issue here — F’Elon Musk’s buddy won’t be running NASA, which would have removed a lot of regulatory obstacles from Musk’s path, not to mention helping to ensure a steady stream of lucrative government contracts.

Musk Accuses Trump Aide of Federal Crime as Feud Explodes
The former boss of the Department of Government Efficiency has ramped up his attacks on White House staffer Sergio Gor.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/elon-musk-accuses-trump-aide-sergio-gor-of-federal-crime-as-feud-explodes

Raleigh News & Observer: Trump’s Approval Rating Plummets in New Poll

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President Donald Trump’s approval rating has dropped to 38%, according to Quinnipiac, amid a public clash with Elon Musk over the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.” A CBS/YouGov poll earlier this month showed 45% approval and 55% disapproval, underscoring the growing public scrutiny he faces.

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Republican lawmakers … are viewed unfavorably by 61% of the general public. This disparity comes amid ongoing challenges Republicans have faced in appealing to a wider audience beyond their base.

Trump’s Approval Rating Plummets in New Poll
More for You

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-s-approval-rating-plummets-in-new-poll/ss-AA1GVnKX

Washington Post: Many here wanted Trump to enforce immigration law, but ‘it’s going overboard’

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Interviews with more than four dozen people in this swing region encompassing northern Los Angeles County show how much tactics matter in the immigration debate.

Jesus Martinez, a 36-year-old aerospace worker, said he initially supported President Donald Trump’s decision to send the military to quell immigration protests in California. But he has grown increasingly uneasy after seeing images of ICE raids near schools and at workplaces where families are being separated.

“It’s going overboard. It’s too much,” said Martinez, a former Democrat who supported Trump in 2020 and sat out the 2024 election.

“They said only criminals, and now they’re saying, ‘Well, they did come in illegally, so they are criminals,’” he added. “Hispanics or Latinos that voted for Trump, they didn’t think he was going to go after kids.”

…

In this working-class and heavily Latino area known for its wildflower blooms, a region that moved toward Trump in the 2024 election, voters from both parties voiced support for Trump’s promises to deport immigrants who are here illegally, especially those with criminal records. But they drew lines — some over the scope of those deportations and, to a lesser extent, over his decision to crack down on immigration protesters with the military.

“When you already have aggressive people and then you’re sending in people like that, I feel like it just makes it kind of worse,” said Christian Strand, a 19-year-old EMT from Palmdale, a majority-Latino city, referring to the deployment of National Guard troops and Marines. “It’s creating more of a pushback, because the aggression is rising.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/06/17/trump-california-immigration-voters

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/many-here-wanted-trump-to-enforce-immigration-law-but-it-s-going-overboard/ar-AA1GUEAR

Mediaite: Stephen Miller’s Wife Demanded Government Agency Lie to Cover Up a Bogus Elon Musk Fraud Claim: NY Times

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Katie Miller — a top Trump administration aide who is married to White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller — ordered a government agency to lie in an effort to cover up a bogus claim by Elon Musk, according to a blockbuster New York Times report.

According to a piece Monday co-authored by Times reporters Alexandra Berzon, Nicholas Nehamas and Tara Siegel Bernard, employees at the Social Security Administration (SSA) were told to confirm Musk’s claim — made at a rally in March — that 40 percent of all calls to the agency’s service lines were scams.

“The number is 40 percent,” Katie Miller reportedly told the acting Social Security Administrator Leland Dudek in an April 1 call. “Do not contradict the president.”

NYT: Katie Miller Ordered SSA to Lie to Back Elon Musk Claim
Katie Miller ordered a government agency to lie in an effort to cover up a bogus claim by Elon Musk, according to a blockbuster New York Times report.
Stephen Miller’s Wife Demanded Government Agency Lie to Cover Up a Bogus Elon Musk Fraud Claim: NY Times

Daily Beast: Dem[ocrat] Assassin Is ‘Strong Trump Supporter’ Best Friend Reveals

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The suspected assassin who ambushed a Minnesota state senator and lawmaker in a deadly attack was a “strong” supporter of President Donald Trump, his roommate revealed.

David Carlson told reporters Saturday that suspected killer Vance L. Boelter voted fro the MAGA president last year. The revelation came after Republicans such as Elon Musk painted Boelter, who was appointed to Governor Walz’s Workforce Development Board in 2019, as a violent leftist—despite his pro-life views and his plans to target dozens of Democratic leaders.

Dem Assassin Is ‘Strong Trump Supporter’ Best Friend Reveals
Alleged shooter Vance L. Boelter sent a warning message to his roommate before he disappeared.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/dem-assassin-is-strong-trump-supporter-best-friend-reveals