Following the approval of Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” by Congress, Elon Musk made a subtle jab at the president.
Trump’s ‘one big, beautiful bill’ was finally approved by the Republican-controlled House of Representatives on July 3, by a vote of 218 to 214, after months of bluster and promotion.
In addition to reducing health and food safety programs, the plan is expected to implement tax breaks that Trump pledged during his 2024 presidential campaign.
The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the plan, which targets the Medicaid health program, could leave about 12 million people without health insurance. Over the following ten years, it will also increase the US national debt by $3.4 trillion.
Fighter aircraft flew over the White House on July 4, as the president signed the bill into law.
“We’ll be signing with those beautiful planes flying right over our heads,” he stated to reporters.
Musk was formerly a staunch admirer of Trump, but the measure caused a rift in their friendship, which Musk has called “utterly insane and destructive.”
In regards to Trump’s “big beautiful bill,” what has Elon Musk said? Prior to the bill’s success in Congress, Musk took to X, formerly Twitter, to claim that the latest draft would ‘destroy millions of jobs in America and cause immense strategic harm to our country’.
He went on to add that the motion would give ‘handouts to industries of the past while severely damaging industries of the future’, and dubbed it ‘political suicide for the Republican Party’.
It goes without saying that Musk was not impressed by the bill’s passage in Congress and returned to X to express his opinions.
He wrote: “Every member of Congress who campaigned on reducing government spending and then immediately voted for the biggest debt increase in history should hang their head in shame! And they will lose their primary next year if it is the last thing I do on this Earth.”
Musk backs Trump’s opponent
Former Representative Justin Amash responded to Musk’s post after he expressed his dissatisfaction over the bill’s passage, asking him to support Thomas Massie, the US representative for Kentucky’s 4th congressional district, in the next primary.
Amash wrote: “Please support @RepThomasMassie. The establishment is working to primary him because he’s a genuine fiscal conservative and opposes the Big, Bloated Scam.”
Musk responded by writing, “I will.”
The SpaceX founder doubled down on his promise when he responded to another X user who wrote: “I donated again to @RepThomasMassie’s re-election campaign. Who’s next?”
Musk’s response was, “Me.”
Musk (X/@elonmusk) made it apparent that he supported Thomas Massie.Musk (X/@elonmusk) made it apparent that he supported Thomas Massie.
Massie, one of just two Republicans in the House who opposed the package, had previously criticized Trump by calling the president’s decision to initiate strikes in Iran “not Constitutional.”
Trump, meantime, has called Massie a “pathetic loser” and stated that he does not believe that he will win the Republican Primary.
“We will have a wonderful American Patriot running against him in the Republican Primary, and I’ll be out in Kentucky campaigning really hard,” Trump tweeted on Truth Social on June 22.
When Massie learned he had Musk’s support, he told Fox News Digital: “Elon’s purchase of Twitter and cultivation of the X platform for free speech has already helped my cause immensely.
“It’s allowed me to bypass conventional media to refute the lies of both political parties and to provide transparency about how Congress works and what’s actually inside of the bills we vote on.
“Exposing the worst parts of the Big Beautiful Bill and reasserting Congressional War Powers has recently earned me the ire of the swamp and a fight for my re-election, but my re-election isn’t really about either of those issues specifically.
“It’s a referendum on whether members of Congress can think and act independently based on what’s best for the country, or whether all members of Congress must be reduced to rubber stamps for their respective political parties and swampy special interests.
“I’m extremely thankful to have Elon Musk’s financial assistance to continue my mission as an independent voice in Congress for my constituents.”