Tim Walz needs to lead the Democrats with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Bernie Sanders and Jasmine Crockett.
Echo report published in The New York Times by Jess Bidgood:
Governor Tim Walz Attacks Musk With Language From the Trump Playbook.
Minnesota governor derided Elon Musk, a naturalized United States citizen, as a “South African nepo baby.” (IOW "inherited wealth" nepotism baby)
Musk was born in South Africa in 1971, moved to Canada in 1989, and then to the United States during college. He obtained Canadian citizenship just before moving there and became a naturalized United States citizen in 2002, according to his biographer, Walter Isaacson.
Governor Tim Walz made his remarks at a town-hall-style event that coincided with the first day of early voting for a State Supreme Court race in Wisconsin. That election, which will be held on April 1, pits a liberal candidate against a conservative Trump ally who has drawn more than $13 million in backing from Musk.
When he took the stage in downtown Eau Claire, Wisconsin, on Tuesday night to rev up Democrats ahead of a critical State Supreme Court race, Governor Tim Walz of Minnesota said he didn’t think name-calling would help things.
Then he called Elon Musk a “dipshit” and, later, a “South African nepo baby” with the power to cut government programs. The crowd roared.
“There’s nothing conservative about an unelected South African nepo baby firing people at the Veterans Administration.,” he said.
Trump has frequently insulted his political opponents by suggesting they are somehow foreign or different from Americans. He began his political career partly by questioning whether President Barack Obama was a citizen. During his first term, he told a mostly American-born group of congresswomen of color to “go back” to their home countries. While campaigning against Vice President Kamala Harris last summer, Trump frequently mispronounced her name and cast her as an outsider by questioning her ethnic background.
Then he called Elon Musk a “dipshit” and, later, a “South African nepo baby” with the power to cut government programs. The crowd roared.
“There’s nothing conservative about an unelected South African nepo baby firing people at the Veterans Administration.,” he said.
Trump has frequently insulted his political opponents by suggesting they are somehow foreign or different from Americans. He began his political career partly by questioning whether President Barack Obama was a citizen. During his first term, he told a mostly American-born group of congresswomen of color to “go back” to their home countries. While campaigning against Vice President Kamala Harris last summer, Trump frequently mispronounced her name and cast her as an outsider by questioning her ethnic background.
Musk was born in South Africa in 1971, moved to Canada in 1989, and then to the United States during college. He obtained Canadian citizenship just before moving there and became a naturalized United States citizen in 2002, according to his biographer, Walter Isaacson.
Governor Tim Walz made his remarks at a town-hall-style event that coincided with the first day of early voting for a State Supreme Court race in Wisconsin. That election, which will be held on April 1, pits a liberal candidate against a conservative Trump ally who has drawn more than $13 million in backing from Musk.
Wisconsin Democrats have seized on those contributions to cast Musk as the election’s main villain.
It was at least the second time Mr. Walz has tagged Musk with the phrase “nepo baby,” slang for someone who inherited wealth or status. (Musk’s father was a successful engineer and developer in Pretoria.) At a town-hall event Friday in Des Moines, the governor criticized Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency for recommending cuts to the Veterans Affairs Department.
Governor Walz, his party’s nominee for vice president last year, is one of several Democrats who have referred to Musk’s immigrant background as they ramp up attacks on the billionaire’s powerful role in the Trump administration.
At times, their language, casting Musk as a foreign outsider, has echoed aspects of Trump’s own xenophobic insults of his political foes — although Trump’s remarks were typically directed toward elected officials of color, not white billionaires.
At a news conference last month, Representative Marcy Kaptur of Ohio said she wondered, “Which country is he loyal to❓ South Africa, Canada, or the United States?” Representative Nydia Velázquez of New York declared Mr. Musk should “go back to South Africa” at a recent protest. At a different protest, Representative Don Beyer of Virginia said, “We’re going to send Elon back to South Africa.”
All of those attacks prompted waves of outrage from Democrats. But some of them seem to be willing to dip into Trump’s playbook in their efforts to portray Musk as a foreign interloper.
The question of Musk’s origins and immigration status occasionally came up on the campaign trail during the 2024, election. After The Washington Post reported, in the closing days of the presidential campaign, that Musk had worked in the United States while on a student visa during the 1990s, President Joseph R. Biden Jr. called him an “illegal worker.”
It’s not just Democrats taking aim at Musk’s immigrant status. Stephen K. Bannon, one of Trump’s chief White House strategists during his first term, last month derided Musk as a “parasitic illegal immigrant” who lacked “respect for the country’s history, values or traditions.”
That seemed to be a reference to The Post’s report about Musk overstaying his student visa, which Musk has referred to as a “gray area.” He later denied that he had worked illegally in the United States.
Musk has made immigration status a major focus of his political rhetoric, frequently deriding illegal immigrants and baselessly suggesting that Democrats are using Social Security and other benefits to draw them to this country.🤥💩
Jess Bidgood is a managing correspondent for The Times.
It was at least the second time Mr. Walz has tagged Musk with the phrase “nepo baby,” slang for someone who inherited wealth or status. (Musk’s father was a successful engineer and developer in Pretoria.) At a town-hall event Friday in Des Moines, the governor criticized Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency for recommending cuts to the Veterans Affairs Department.
Governor Walz, his party’s nominee for vice president last year, is one of several Democrats who have referred to Musk’s immigrant background as they ramp up attacks on the billionaire’s powerful role in the Trump administration.
At times, their language, casting Musk as a foreign outsider, has echoed aspects of Trump’s own xenophobic insults of his political foes — although Trump’s remarks were typically directed toward elected officials of color, not white billionaires.
At a news conference last month, Representative Marcy Kaptur of Ohio said she wondered, “Which country is he loyal to❓ South Africa, Canada, or the United States?” Representative Nydia Velázquez of New York declared Mr. Musk should “go back to South Africa” at a recent protest. At a different protest, Representative Don Beyer of Virginia said, “We’re going to send Elon back to South Africa.”
All of those attacks prompted waves of outrage from Democrats. But some of them seem to be willing to dip into Trump’s playbook in their efforts to portray Musk as a foreign interloper.
The question of Musk’s origins and immigration status occasionally came up on the campaign trail during the 2024, election. After The Washington Post reported, in the closing days of the presidential campaign, that Musk had worked in the United States while on a student visa during the 1990s, President Joseph R. Biden Jr. called him an “illegal worker.”
It’s not just Democrats taking aim at Musk’s immigrant status. Stephen K. Bannon, one of Trump’s chief White House strategists during his first term, last month derided Musk as a “parasitic illegal immigrant” who lacked “respect for the country’s history, values or traditions.”
That seemed to be a reference to The Post’s report about Musk overstaying his student visa, which Musk has referred to as a “gray area.” He later denied that he had worked illegally in the United States.
Musk has made immigration status a major focus of his political rhetoric, frequently deriding illegal immigrants and baselessly suggesting that Democrats are using Social Security and other benefits to draw them to this country.🤥💩
Jess Bidgood is a managing correspondent for The Times.
Labels: Elon Musk, Minnesota, nepo baby, President Brack Obama, The New York Times, Veterans Administration
posted by Juliana L'Heureux | 7:26 AM
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