Elon Musk has been criticised after he told Bernie Sanders that he keeps “forgetting that you’re still alive” in a recent spat with the veteran US senator.
The two ideological opposed individuals are no strangers to each other after arguing on Twitter before, mostly about money, but Musk appears to have struck a nerve this time with his comments about Sanders’ well-being.
Sanders started things off on 13th November when he tweeted: “We must demand that the extremely wealthy pay their fair share. Period.”
In a rather pointed response, Musk, the richest man in the world, told the 80-year-old US politician: “I keep forgetting that you’re still alive.”
I keep forgetting that you’re still alive
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 14, 2021
The South African entrepreneur followed this up by saying: “Want me to sell more stock, Bernie? Just say the word …”
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Although it’s likely that Musk was probably just joking about Sanders’ health, his quip has not gone down too well, with many criticising him for his “abusive” comments, especially coming from someone of such wealth and influence.
A bored and high oligarch is tweeting insults at two US Senators. America is a spectacle. https://t.co/CCseNfXBai
— Shannon Watts (@shannonrwatts) November 15, 2021
Elon, you have enough money to make every single person that works for you a millionaire and yet you just continue to be an asshole. https://t.co/e7Xr8TN9JI
— 😷💉 Valerie Bertinelli (@Wolfiesmom) November 14, 2021
Folks, quit buying @Tesla. Don’t reward abusive men. https://t.co/9z2vd6HC2H
— melissa “cancel student debt” byrne (@mcbyrne) November 14, 2021
One of the most vile tweets in the history of this bird site. https://t.co/ZwIUOLvMVr
— Peter Daou (@peterdaou) November 14, 2021
Anyone who follows me knows that I am not a Bernie Sanders fan. However, I have mentioned in the past my respect for @elonmusk and the things he has done. However, this tweet from Elon is disgusting. Elon, you just guaranteed that I will never be a customer for a Tesla. https://t.co/sM0sjb4mrH
— Fred Guttenberg (@fred_guttenberg) November 14, 2021
One way to assess whether powerful people are actually also good people is how they treat the elderly, who have lived their own full and rich lives. https://t.co/HSevNJ17FK
— George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) November 14, 2021
This is a horrible thing to say to anyone, but to say it to an elder statesman is reprehensible. https://t.co/OZ4TgEUo1P
— Cynthia Nixon (@CynthiaNixon) November 14, 2021
you have billions of dollars and you’re so triggered by a tweet about people paying their taxes?
— Molly Jong-Fast (@MollyJongFast) November 14, 2021
What a deeply offensive thing to say.
— Marianne Williamson (@marwilliamson) November 14, 2021
Despite the backlash, Musk, the founder of SpaceX and Tesla, continued with his rhetoric by replying to one person who mocked the former Democratic presidential candidate by saying he thought Sanders was “a taker, not a maker.”
Bernie is a taker, not a maker
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 15, 2021
Sanders has not immediately responded to the comments.
This all comes just days after Musk posted a poll on Twitter asking his followers whether he should sell 10 per cent of his Tesla stock. The results concluded that he should sell, with him later offloading a reported $7 billion in Tesla.
Musk’s unusual approach to the matter appears to be in response to Sanders’ proposed “billionaire tax” that would tax “unrealised capital gains” such as the ones that Musk earns from Tesla.
50-year-old Musk doesn’t earn a salary from Tesla but is required to pay taxes on the gains that he makes through his stocks in the company which increases his net worth. However, he does not have to pay taxes on any unrealised capital gains which Sanders is hoping to change.
