‘Musk Is Subject to A Different Set of Rules’: Senator Condemns Resolution Singling Out Billionaire
Murphy suggests measure to criticize Trump’s January 6 pardons instead
An increasingly outspoken Democratic senator denounced a Senate resolution that singles out billionaire Elon Musk for protection from acts of “domestic terrorism.”
Sen Chris Murphy, of Connecticut, spoke against a Senate resolution which was tailored for the protection of Musk and his Tesla electric vehicle business, while ignoring any of the other thousands of examples of domestic terrorism occurring in the United States.
Murphy, who has emerged as one of the strongest critics of Musk and Donald Trump, spoke against the resolution late last week in remarks on the Senate floor.
While Musk and his team known as “DOGE,” have been disrupting and dismantling programs and functions across the federal government, Americans have become increasingly angry with those activities.
Protests have emerged at Tesla dealerships across the country and around the world. Most such protests have been peaceful although a handful have involved property damage.
Musk, meanwhile, has become increasingly upset with these protests against him and his company as sales of Tesla vehicles dwindle and the company’s stock price has lost ground this year.
Murphy objected to a Republican request for unanimous consent to pass a resolution that claims to condemn domestic terrorism but instead gives special treatment to Elon Musk. Murphy slammed the hypocrisy of condemning violence against Musk’s businesses while excusing the January 6 rioters who brutally attacked Capitol Police officers.
“Come on, this resolution is not about violence or domestic terrorism. It just isn't,” he said. “This is a resolution that says one thing and one thing only: Elon Musk is in charge. He matters more than anybody else. Musk is subject to a different set of rules than everybody else. The Trump administration serves him, not us. The Republican Party serves him, not us. Elon Musk right now is effectively stealing from the American people. He is combing through our government, awarding himself contracts, canceling contracts for his competitors. He is shutting down agencies that stand in the way of his business [and] his growth. He's giving himself access to secret information about government enforcement actions against his competitors.”
Murphy highlighted the resolution’s pandering to Elon Musk despite thousands of other domestic terrorism incidents.
“This resolution claims to say something about domestic terrorism, but the only terrorism, the only violence it mentions, is violence carried out against – you guessed it – Elon Musk. On an annual basis, there are 11,000 reported incidents of domestic terrorism. 11,000. Only a handful of them impact Tesla dealerships, but they're the only acts of violence mentioned in this resolution,” Murphy said. “52% of the reported attacks were based on racial or ethnic targeting by radicalized attackers, but they aren't mentioned in this resolution. Only Elon Musk is mentioned in this resolution. Because a different set of rules apply to him. Because he is in charge, and he deserves protection that no one else gets. He deserves a White House TV commercial for his cars. He deserves to give himself contracts and steal from his competitors. He deserves to have his own resolution.”
Murphy proposed the Senate also agree to a resolution expressing disapproval of the pardons of rioters who took part in the violent insurrection of January 6, 2021, at the Capitol Building in Washington DC.
“This resolution just says that the specific set of people who viciously attacked police officers – the ones that hit the police officers over the head with metal poles – that those people shouldn’t have been given a get-out-of-jail-free card. And so why don't we just be consistent?” the senator asked. “We don’t we say that violence matters when it's committed against Elon Musk's dealerships, and it matters when it's committed against the people that protect us? And so my offer is to just pass both resolutions right now. Right now, we could just agree by unanimous consent to your resolution, and we could agree as a body that you shouldn't pardon the people who brutally beat the people who show up every day to protect us. They matter, too. Elon Musk isn't the only person that matters.”
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