OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Elon Musk was not pleased with remarks made by Vice President Kamala Harris regarding the prioritization of disaster relief.
The billionaire SpaceX and Tesla founder and CEO called out Harris after she said the Biden administration was initially focused on relief for minorities because of “equity” and the White House’s desire for everyone to be “in an equal place.”
Harris’ comments, which were seen has highly racist by Musk and others, came during back and forth with leftist Priyanka Chopra during a women’s leadership forum in Washington, D.C. sponsored by the Democratic National Committee, The Daily Wire reported.
“It is our lowest income communities and our communities of color that are most impacted by these extreme conditions and impacted by issues that are not of their own making,” claimed the vice president in regards to emergency responses to Hurricane Ian. “And so we have to address this in a way that is about giving resources based on equity, understanding that we fight for equality, but we also need to fight for equity, understanding not everyone starts out at the same place.
“And if we want people to be in an equal place, sometimes we have to take into account those disparities and do that work,” Harris added.
Musk responded: “Should be according to greatest need, not race or anything else.”
Should be according to greatest need, not race or anything else
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 1, 2022
Others took issue with Harris’ race-tinged remarks.
“The response in my state of Florida has been incredible. My Governor and Floridians are handling the aftermath remarkably. Kamala is exploiting our misfortune to pander to a voter bloc to ahead of the midterms,” noted Josie The Redheaded Libertarian.
“Agreed. Really disgraceful to see her priorities when folks have lost their homes, and some even their lives. Thank you, Elon!” added Students for Trump founder Ron Fournier.
“This is false. @VP‘s rhetoric is causing undue panic and must be clarified. FEMA Individual Assistance is already available to all Floridians impacted by Hurricane Ian, regardless of race or background,” Christina Pushaw, communications director for Gov. Ron DeSantis’ reelection campaign, noted.
“It’s just jaw dropping that she is talking about prioritizing ‘communities of color’ when the hardest hit communities are like 95% white. Not that it should ever matter in any case,” she added.
As for Musk, he made headlines again this week regarding plans to expand into social media.
Musk, who is currently engaged in a court battle with Twitter after initially making an offer to purchase the platform for $44 billion, suggested on Wednesday that he is open to working with Rumble, an up-and-coming video platform competitor to YouTube, in which conservative talker and Fox News host Dan Bongino has a financial interest.
The exchange began after Russel Brand, a Hollywood celebrity who has taken up the cause of free speech, claimed that YouTube censored him for making a minor mistake — one he says the legacy corporate media made as well but did not suffer any consequences for doing so because Brand believes the platform is now part of the mainstream media.
“Good point,” Musk responded.
Good point
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 27, 2022
Musk’s reply prompted Bongino to make a pitch for his platform.
“Elon, it would be really incredible if you and Rumble got together. A force multiplier like no other,” he wrote.
Musk replied, perhaps in reference to his ongoing legal battle with Twitter: “I’m a little preoccupied rn [right now].”
I’m a little preoccupied rn
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 27, 2022
Then, Rumble’s founder, Chris Pavlovski, joined the fray and made a pitch of his own to Musk.
“Elon, I founded Rumble and forever wanted to work with you. Below is from 2010 when I visited SpaceX. I was ready 12 years ago, and I’m ready 12 years from now. Whenever you’re ready,” he wrote in response. “In the meantime, let’s peer our datacenters with Starlink to secure free speech.”
Elon, I founded Rumble and forever wanted to work with you. Below is from 2010 when I visited SpaceX. I was ready 12 years ago, and I'm ready 12 years from now. Whenever you're ready 🚀
In the meantime, let's peer our datacenters with Starlink to secure free speech 🙂 pic.twitter.com/TkWHDTGtrp
— Chris Pavlovski – 🏴☠️ $RUM (@chrispavlovski) September 27, 2022
Musk replied: “Maybe worth talking at some point.”
Musk is also CEO of Starlink, which is a satellite-based internet service.
Earlier this month, Musk scored a major court victory in his battle with Twitter when a judge ruled that the Tesla CEO can use information obtained by a whistleblower in his case against the website.
