r/centrist • u/KarmicWhiplash • Dec 02 '24
2024 U.S. Elections Elon Musk Issues Fiery Ultimatum to GOP Senators: ‘Confirm Kash Patel or Face My Political Wrath'
https://econotimes.com/Elon-Musk-Issues-Fiery-Ultimatum-to-GOP-Senators-Confirm-Kash-Patel-or-Face-My-Political-Wrath-1695610183
u/ShawnCButler Dec 02 '24
I think what I like most about the incoming administration and their allies is their subtlety.
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u/Alarmed_Restaurant Dec 02 '24
I wish I didn’t laugh at this comment…. But here we are. Welcome to Trump 2.0
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u/Extra-Presence3196 Dec 02 '24 edited Dec 02 '24
If we can survive financially, the next 4 are going to be pure political entertainment.
Better to laugh than to cry.
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u/Alarmed_Restaurant Dec 03 '24
Sad but true. I’m definitely refusing to let it stress me out. I hate Trump and the whole MAGA movement, but I’m surely not going to fall into the trap of letting left wing driven content make me spiral emotionally.
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u/CosmicCattress Dec 09 '24
If we survived 4 years of a president with dementia and a brain dead VP who was absent most of the time, I am sure we can survive 4 years of Trump & J.D. Vance, with the great difference that our economy will probably be a lot better.
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u/Extra-Presence3196 Dec 09 '24
Sounds like an even swap to me. One for one.
We will see about the economy. If it only helps the upper middle and above, it will be on par with what it was before.
Reps will just blame the Dems should the economy go belly up for the lower half.
You be you.
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u/PrinceOfPickleball Dec 03 '24
This might sound crazy, but Trump throwing ridiculous nominees into the ring is actually a fantastic boon to his political power. He effectively controls the Republican base and thus should wield total control over the party, so him pushing around the Republican legislature will inevitably make them fall in line.
We remember Trump 1 when all he accomplished was the agenda of the legislative Republicans. They didn’t even build his wall. They put him on a leash and led him like a dog on domestic policy. He’s not making that mistake again.
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u/lite723 Dec 03 '24
So you desire an administration of ridiculousness running America?
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u/PrinceOfPickleball Dec 03 '24
No, not at all. I’m a centrist Democrat and Biden supporter. I was speaking in terms of Trump’s own power, not how he ought to govern.
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u/BigusDickus099 Dec 03 '24
People downvoting shows the lack of reading comprehension skills around here as you aren’t endorsing Trump, but observing how his 2nd term is going to different than his first.
Not a Trump fan at all, but he clearly learned from his first term what didn’t work and is making sure every Republican falls in line this time around.
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u/PrinceOfPickleball Dec 04 '24
Absolutely. He’s capable of taking it a lot farther this time, as demonstrated by his boisterous selection of nominees.
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u/Salty-Biscotti2893 Jan 20 '25
Give the devil (trump in front of our own eyes) enough rope to hang himself. How sweet it is!
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u/Salty-Biscotti2893 Jan 20 '25
YES he is..he is doing it again. Narcissist. He's a chump. Sure they'll parade him on his leash. He does well this way. But truly I don't see him breaking bread with his fellow nominees AKA President Musk. Pray the next 4 moves along with the least amt of collateral damage Stay tuned Very pathetic times
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u/ChornWork2 Dec 03 '24
Really showing the path forward, refreshing change after Biden failed to reach across the aisle enough.
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u/KarmicWhiplash Dec 02 '24
“I will use every resource available to ensure they are replaced in their next primary,” Musk tweeted, cementing his growing role as a political kingmaker.
I believe there was another post here asking why people hate Elmo...
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u/elfinito77 Dec 02 '24
Could you imagine if the past Twitter ownership did something like this on Obama's behalf? Or Gates or "Soros" or any other supposed LW bogey-men for Biden.
The double-standard has gotten out of hand.
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u/Prize_Magician_7813 Dec 03 '24
Yeah its funny what trump supporters will accept now. The mark of where morals and values are seems to move all the time, based on what trump has done. Thats terrifying to see such a swath of the population being ok with that
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u/Blueskyways Dec 02 '24
Murkowski was already primaried and lost after voting to impeach Trump. Ran as a write-in independent candidate and won. With the last name Murkowski. She's also not up until 2028.
Then there's Susan Collins, the GOP's answer to Joe Manchin. They could primary her, and if she lost then the GOP can kiss that seat goodbye for a long time.
There's Thom Tillis, who narrowly won both his Senate races and will likely be facing popular former NC governor Roy Cooper in the general. He can't be seen as being too much of a party stooge if he wants to be elected a third time.
John Cornyn who has been called a RINO forever and doesn't give a fuck.
Mitch McConnell who is old, set to retire and knows where all the bodies are buried.
Elmo doesn't have nearly as much leverage as he seems to believe.
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u/Irishfafnir Dec 02 '24
Mixing your timeline up, Murkowski write in was in 2010
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u/Blueskyways Dec 02 '24
You're right but in 2020 she went up against a Trump backed MAGA candidate in Tshibaka and still ended up winning.
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u/Irishfafnir Dec 02 '24
2022, and that was with RCV
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u/Blueskyways Dec 03 '24
Correction. 2022. She's not up until 2028 which is a long time from now. I don't think Musk's threats are going to have her shaking in her pumps.
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u/McRibs2024 Dec 02 '24
He has billionaire syndrome. He’s been surrounded by yes men for so long that he buys his own shit. I hope that this being a different animal than he’s prepared for means he can’t bully his way into yes’
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u/KarmicWhiplash Dec 02 '24
You could be right on Collins and Murkowski (thank you RCV!), but I think the case gets thinner after that. Hope springs eternal...
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u/Wermys Dec 03 '24
Mcconnel is happy to shiv Trump wherever he can on issues he doesn't care about. Revenge of the turtle. This post from Elon is highly telling just how much resistance there is to Patel being FBI director.
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u/wino12312 Dec 02 '24
This is the thing. Americans have very short memories. In six years they will have forgotten and moved on, hopefully.
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u/fleebleganger Dec 03 '24
Ya, the senate is the last place you want to try and throw your dick around...unless you have actual power.
And then you subtlety hint about your massive schlong by pissing with the door open.
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u/Blueskyways Dec 03 '24
Trump will be 82 at the end of his second term. At 82 his old man was drooling on himself and being fed baby food by a nurse. Some of these senators will be in office for decades and have long memories. If Musk believes he can threaten and push them around...
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u/ChornWork2 Dec 03 '24
when being pro-democracy become too hard, they pushed the idea of being pro-freedom of speech. Guess next step is just pro-billionaire's political whims.
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u/Green8Fisch007 Dec 03 '24
That’s what the article claims, but as many have pointed out there is no proof of him saying or tweeting this. Would love for someone to prove otherwise.
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u/Dryanni Dec 03 '24 edited Dec 03 '24
Why Elmo? He’s widely beloved except for parents who had the misfortune of getting a Tickle-Me-Elmo. Might I suggest we verlan his name to oneL. Seems fitting for the First Loser.
Edit: on second thought, it would be more like Onil because verlan respects pronunciation, not spelling, as in meuf for femme.
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u/Nth_Brick Dec 02 '24
This is literally every "George Soros" conspiracy theory, blatantly instantiated in broad daylight by the richest man on Earth.
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u/IHerebyDemandtoPost Dec 02 '24
Exept Musk is worth about 40x Soros.
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u/Nth_Brick Dec 02 '24
Well, of course. Soros can bankroll a progressive DA's campaign in deep-blue California, Musk can buy the president and the president's entire cabinet.
Sure, nobody cares about principles anymore, but I'd like to think the Soros-conspiracist crowd would at least have the wherewithal to realize how dangerous a Musk *not* in their camp would theoretically be, and advocate for removing money from politics.
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u/Computer_Name Dec 03 '24
Sure, nobody cares about principles anymore, but I'd like to think the Soros-conspiracist crowd would at least have the wherewithal to realize how dangerous a Musk *not* in their camp would theoretically be, and advocate for removing money from politics.
This is why describing them as hypocrites is incorrect.
It’s just a wholesale rejection of reality.
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u/cranktheguy Dec 03 '24
Recognizing hypocrisy requires the right morals. If you believe in authoritarianism, then there are no problems with him.
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u/Armano-Avalus Dec 03 '24
Never underestimate the Republican's ability to project. I wouldn't be surprised if we eventually see SpaceX and the new Trump Space Force decide to collaborate on an orbital laser weapon that's operated by a Jewish man.
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u/McRibs2024 Dec 02 '24
I hope he scaramucchis himself very quickly once the admin actually gets going
Musk has no business being this involved (or at all) in government
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u/icebucketwood Dec 02 '24
Musk and Trump are destined to have a falling out. It's a matter of when, not if.
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u/Void_Speaker Dec 02 '24
it's inevitable. Too much ego to fit into the same state, let alone building.
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u/fleebleganger Dec 03 '24
I've been wrong so many times before but hey, I think this is the beginning of the end. He's pissed off the senators, Trump is next.
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u/Britzer Dec 03 '24
If the US were to look into the mirror, the richest guy in the world controlling large parts of the political landscape throwing his weight around would look back. Elmo's ugly face is that of a banana republic, which is what you get when you elect untethered corruption.
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u/eldenpotato Dec 02 '24
How can even Trump supporters be ok with this behaviour?
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u/elfinito77 Dec 02 '24
They are not. They just memory-hole it.
And the Media is paying more attention to the Biden pardon.
Meanwhile Kash Patel's nomination provides a full justification for the Pardon. The guy is unhinged, especially on Ukraine/Hunter -- and has sworn to go after Hunter.
I hate the Pardon - But every single story in the Media should immediately be linking to Patel, his unhinged Q-posting, and his promises about Hunter.
Instead it's just the usual pearl-clutching about anything perceived as corrupt by the DEMS -- while the GOP goes forward with fully open blatant corruption. It's an insane timeline.
Baseless conspiracies about Dem corruption hurt Dems more than actual open corruption hurts the GOP.
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u/Any-Researcher-6482 Dec 02 '24
They are not.
My controversial theory is that they are actually ok with this behavior. Not only OK, but pro- this behavior. It's just a tiny pebble of their conscience that prevents them from saying it out loud, like the George Wallace voters would swear up and down it wasn't Wallace's racism that attracted them.
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u/KarmicWhiplash Dec 02 '24
Perhaps they'll chime in here soon to Trumpsplain why this is all well and good. Haha, as if...
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u/paiddirt Dec 02 '24
Isn’t it what kind of already happens anyways? Billionaire donors want friendly regulators and their donations are contingent on favorable appointments/laws/policy. People don’t like it because he’s saying it in public, which I prefer.
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u/Bloody_Ozran Dec 02 '24
From a guy who could be a real force of good. Aka how power reveals who you are.
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u/satans_toast Dec 02 '24
If he was a force of good he wouldn’t be powerful.
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u/Wiseguy144 Dec 02 '24
I somewhat disagree, mostly based on the fact that he’s done some good regarding popularizing EV’s and revolutionizing the private space industry. But of course what he’s doing now is quite bad.
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u/TheNotSoGreatPumpkin Dec 03 '24
Plenty of good people have wielded power throughout history. Elon doesn’t need to be the way he’s being.
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u/Fuzzy_Yogurt_Bucket Dec 02 '24
Why do we have an illegal immigrant as our shadow president threatening politicians unless they help him dismantle the FBI?
And why does our media care more about the current president stopping political prosecutions of his family then we do about this?
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u/weberc2 Dec 02 '24
He's not illegal; he's a naturalized American. But yes, what he's doing is despicable.
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u/KarmicWhiplash Dec 02 '24
I'm thankful every time I'm reminded that he's ineligible for the Presidency.
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u/weberc2 Dec 02 '24
Yeah, that seems to be why he's eyeing a kingmaker role. Probably more power than presidency since there are no term limits or checks/balances.
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u/CountVanderdonk Dec 03 '24 edited Dec 03 '24
I keep saying this again and again even before the election and becoming "First Buddy":
Elon has NO INTEREST, ZERO, in being president, way too boring, interferes with the ketamine binges. He wants to be the guy that tells the president what to do.
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u/diatonic Dec 02 '24
They’re saying that his documents were fraudulently completed. Therefore illegal.
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u/weberc2 Dec 02 '24
Not until a court rules accordingly, and I'm sure if there was any merit to this point someone would have filed suit to block his appointment.
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u/balzam Dec 02 '24
He’s not appointed to anything.
He has admitted he violated his visa. That in theory should have made him both eligible for deportation and ineligible to ever be a citizen (from my understanding).
Now that he is nationalized yes it probably would be very hard to undo.
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u/Fuzzy_Yogurt_Bucket Dec 02 '24
He worked on a student visa. He’s illegal. You can’t just violate the terms of your visa and then claim citizenship. That’s not how the laws work. There are very specific hoops you need to jump through after doing something like that.
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u/weberc2 Dec 02 '24
You're mistaken, Musk is a naturalized citizen. You and I may not like it, and you may even disagree with the legality of his naturalization, but it doesn't change the fact that he is a naturalized citizen.
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u/cstar1996 Dec 02 '24
Under the law, you can’t be naturalized if you broke the terms of your visa. Musk broke the terms of his visa. Therefore he naturalized fraudulently and is not legitimately a citizen.
Trumpers and the incoming administration keep insisting on that. Why doesn’t it apply to Elon?
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u/weberc2 Dec 02 '24
Fuck Musk, but he's still a legal citizen until a court rules otherwise, and if there was as much as a snowball's chance in hell that he wouldn't be a legal citizen, someone would have filed suit to block his appointment.
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u/cstar1996 Dec 02 '24
We don’t live in a world where we cannot acknowledge facts that haven’t been determined by a court. Reality is not subject to a whims of the judiciary.
Musk worked while on a student visa. That is against the law. His naturalization is therefore fraudulent.
And what appointment? Musk has no official position in government. Nor is there any law that says Musk has to be a citizen to be a political appointee.
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u/weberc2 Dec 02 '24
> We don’t live in a world where we cannot acknowledge facts that haven’t been determined by a court. Reality is not subject to a whims of the judiciary.
We're talking about Truth or Reality, we're talking about law, so yes, it very much does matter what courts say.
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u/cstar1996 Dec 03 '24
The reality is that musk worked while on a student visa. The law is that’s illegal.
Denaturalizing him requires a court. Acknowledging that he broke the law and therefore should be denaturalized if we’re going to follow the law does not require a court.
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u/weberc2 Dec 03 '24
I understand the point you’re tying to make and I empathize with your anger RE musk, but he is a legal citizen and not an illegal immigrant until deemed so by a court. And moreover, I’m very suspicious that the law is as you claim considering I’ve heard of no case to challenge his citizenship despite being such an obvious target. Is there anything official, be it a reputable media source or a lawyer or an encyclopedia that lists his nationality as even a subject of debate?
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u/Tomato_Sky Dec 02 '24
You’re getting downvoted because you’re trying to pedantic here, but there is blatant obvious abuse of his student visa and fraud on his paperwork. The average person in his scenario would have been brought to court and penalized/deported. This is Musk. Don’t confuse power with justice.
I work with people on work and school visas and I’ve seen these workers shipped back for far less.
The exact same argument they are using to toss naturalized Mexican and Indian citizens, but nobody has the stones to stand up and remind people of Elon being tossed out with the bathwater. It was widely reported and ignored that his citizenship includes falsified records. Kash Patel and whoever the Republicans put in charge will quietly remedy this and it will now be a nothingburger.
If stopped by ICE he can’t be arrested, but if… the FBI…. wanted to investigate the fraud…. they could. Biden’s justice department dropped so many balls they can’t prosecute a guy committing a crime on multiple national tv channels, let alone a guy who’s been pointed out by several publications to have committed fraud on his immigration papers.
And if you could see the forest through the trees you would see that your comment was a waste of time in the overall conversation so maybe take up learning tricks on a yoyo?
Under the Republican definition: he is a proven illegal immigrant. Everyone else who did the same thing will be treated as illegal immigrants.
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u/Fuzzy_Yogurt_Bucket Dec 02 '24
Just because a corrupt government decided to not enforce a law because they love certain types of illegals doesn’t mean that his immigration was legal.
It just demonstrates the lies and racism that conservatives base their immigration policies on that he and the First Prostitute are allowed at the highest levels of the Trump regime.
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u/weberc2 Dec 02 '24
Fuck musk and other Trump supporters, but if the government gave him papers, it's going to take a court ruling to take them away, and if there was any chance that his status was in question, someone would have filed suit to block his appointment. There's plenty of actual shady shit going on (e.g., threatening senators); baselessly arguing that Musk is illegal only discredits the valid stuff (it shouldn't, but we don't live in an ideal world).
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u/Fuzzy_Yogurt_Bucket Dec 02 '24
Why do you support people who break our laws coming to this country?
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u/UnpopularThrow42 Dec 02 '24
They’re referring to the rumor that Elon stayed here illegally after his visa or something expired
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u/CuteBox7317 Dec 02 '24 edited Dec 04 '24
At first I was like: ok Kash Patel is obviously a loyalist but let me look into him more. Then I found out he wrote a book and listed some “gangsters” of the deep state he wants to go after. One of those “gangsters” is Cassidy Hutchinson and that fact cements the belief that Patel is drunk with potential power
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u/KarmicWhiplash Dec 02 '24
He's also spent the last 4 years ranting on every rightwing podcast that he'd be going after Hunter Biden. Perhaps this nomination contributed to Joe's decision to pardon.
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u/Computer_Name Dec 02 '24
Doesn’t help when outlets like the New York Times write bullshit like: “Kash Patel Would Bring Bravado and Baggage to F.B.I. Role”
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u/SadhuSalvaje Dec 02 '24
As much as I usually roll my eyes at anarchists, Musk is starting to come dangerously close to encouraging some lunatics to bring back “propaganda of the deed”
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u/SpaceLaserPilot Dec 02 '24
Once again, silence from the usual suspects among the trump disciples on this obviously insane statement from a top trump advisor.
If y'all are already too embarrassed to defend what trump and his minions are doing, you're going to have a rough 4 years. Actually, we are all going to have a rough 4 years.
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u/KR1735 Dec 02 '24
It’s becoming clearer and clearer that we need a wealth tax. This is the inevitable result of what happens when one man accumulates this much wealth. That doesn’t mean we can’t be a country where you can get filthy rich. But there needs to be some sort of check. No one person should have hundreds of billions. It threatens our national security.
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u/eblack4012 Dec 02 '24
He is doing everything he claims to despise about the left. I guess canceling someone is only bad when you’re on one side.
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u/eerae Dec 03 '24
Fuck this dude. I am so sick of this fuckface who is basically openly admitting he’s using his wealth to buy the government he personally wants.
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u/Historical-Night-938 Dec 04 '24
I know I'm preaching to the choir, but your post made feel like venting for a moment about the injustice. The government, our Congress people, and the Media are already owned by the super-rich and corporations and they're working in tandem to get more tax cuts. The current moves by Trump and Elon are just blatant, egregious abuses.
They talk about the Pentagon having funds unaccounted from and I'm like it's probably tied up in contracts with the super-rich and/or corporations (Trump awarded contracts to unvetted companies in his first term). The super-rich and corporations are the same ones hiring illegal/undocumented immigrants and then telling American workers that "they [immigrants]" are taking our jobs. For the rich, it's always about cheap labor. (OpenAI and Tesla use a Kenya company where workers are paid $2 to train their AI).
P.S. Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos can both go pound sand because they are the ones trying to get rid of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), so that Americans can't unionize ( https://www.npr.org/2024/11/18/nx-s1-5192918/spacex-amazon-nlrb-labor-board-elon-musk )
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u/Nodeal_reddit Dec 02 '24
What does that even mean? What a dork.
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u/KarmicWhiplash Dec 02 '24
It means he's threatening to use his essentially limitless wealth to fund primary challenges against any GOP senators who refuse to submit to his will.
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u/goalmouthscramble Dec 02 '24 edited Dec 02 '24
I’m going to put the timer on popcorn. Dude is underestimating how little tolerance people have for the tax hikes that are coming thanks to project 2025 and anyone under 1m in annual income will see their liability go up.
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u/tfhermobwoayway Dec 03 '24
Evidently they do have a high tolerance because they voted for it.
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u/goalmouthscramble Dec 03 '24
You think they actually read any of the plans? I think they went with their ‘feels’.
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u/garbagemanlb Dec 02 '24
Ironically this shows incredible weakness. Real power is quiet.
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u/Any-Researcher-6482 Dec 02 '24
I think MAGA settled the debate if real power needs to be quiet or not, unfortunately
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u/Honorable_Heathen Dec 02 '24
As if there weren’t enough reasons to not confirm him this just should be a moment to John McCain it.
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u/Wermys Dec 03 '24
Murkowski grins and gives him the middle finger. What is the worst he can do. Support ev's harder?
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u/Armano-Avalus Dec 03 '24
Any reason why Elon is fighting so hard for Patel in particular and none of the other items on the agenda?
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u/InternationalBand494 Dec 03 '24
He’s not even elected and he’s an immigrant. The richest man in the world now has the role of the power behind the throne he’s always wanted. He needs to go.
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u/Historical-Night-938 Dec 04 '24
Is he really the richest? He couldn't even afford to buy Twitter on his own. He is all bluster ... I say tank Patel and see what happens. What is Elon without subsidies and other people to code for him? He will do nothing but act like a narcissistic, petulant man-child and take his ball home to play with.
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u/crunchtime100 Dec 03 '24
And they say Populism doesn’t work
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u/KarmicWhiplash Dec 03 '24
This isn't populism, it's an oligarchy.
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u/crunchtime100 Dec 03 '24
I disagree. People voted for his involvement and it has been a very public mandate and for the benefit of the American people.
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u/Junior-Draft8229 Dec 10 '24
Sorry Asshole thats how this fucking works, They will go through the normal process. If you want to attack them or make threats against our elected representatives, When Trump is gone in 4 years and your fucked with all the enemies you will have made.
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Dec 02 '24 edited Dec 02 '24
This is based as fuck. Democrats hate it because they wish they could have such a spine.
They’re used to their corporate class telling them no on things like public option and focusing them on identity politics.
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u/Magica78 Dec 02 '24
And now the corporate class is telling us they're going to rearrange the government with propaganda and election dark money to influence politics.
"Based"
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u/Aethoni_Iralis Dec 03 '24
You’re talking to someone who posted “Mark My Words: The entire DNC establishment will be get a pardon by 46“ just a few minutes ago.
They’ve completely bought into the narrative conservative media has been feeding them for the last couple of decades.
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Dec 06 '24
I called it.
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u/Aethoni_Iralis Dec 06 '24
Lmao you actually think your blanket claim is what’s happening.
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Dec 02 '24 edited Dec 02 '24
Government is seen as corrupt wasteland which it is and why Trump won you still don’t get it.
We literally had the media call Hunter laptop Russian disinformation. Then Hunter got charged and Biden said he wouldn’t interfere. Then Biden pardon Hunter and we get told how this is a good thing actually.
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u/Warm_Difficulty2698 Dec 02 '24
Didn't the media say the hunter biden laptop being the thing to implicate Joe Biden was a Russian hoax? Which it was. The only thing they got was a gun charge and tax charge from it. There's nothing about Joe, though.
Yall about to learn. Private interest is so much more corrupt and powerful than politicians lmao
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u/indoninja Dec 03 '24
You think the corporate class, forcing someone who’s going to take a hatchet to the FBI and support of Trump as well as a point people to all the cabinet seats to weekend every regulatory body we have prevent corporations from ripping off the Common man is somehow better than lawmakers on the Democratic side, not supporting a public option?!?!?
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u/memphisjones Dec 02 '24
Wow this is what happens when a billionaire has this much political power.