Donald Trump’s Biggest Donor Is Promising 'Temporary Hardship' For Americans
HuffPost
Billionaire Elon Musk’s statements are stunningly contrary to Trump’s sunnier description of American life under a second Trump presidency.
Former President Donald Trump’s biggest financial backer and top campaign surrogate, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, says he and Trump plan to inflict “temporary hardship” on American citizens if the Republican nominee wins the White House in November.
Trump has said Musk would lead a commission on how to reduce government spending, and Musk has said he would identify trillions in cuts.
“We have to reduce spending to live within our means. That necessarily involves some temporary hardship, but it will ensure long-term prosperity,” Musk said last week during a “Telephone Town Hall” hosted on his social media website.
Musk, the tech billionaire who has spent more than $130 million backing Trump and regularly spreads racist conspiracy theories about immigration and voting, acknowledged that steep cuts would trigger political opposition, but said Trump would support the idea of everyone “taking a haircut,” an informal financial term for when an asset loses value.
“President Trump is supportive that everyone’s taking a haircut here because America’s got to live within its means, and we can’t be a wastrel,” Musk said.