Becca Balint Says She Overheard GOP Reps Bashing Musk in Congressional Elevator
A top Democrat has revealed how she overheard GOP representatives bad-mouthing Elon Musk in a Congressional elevator, in reaction to the billionaire tech bro’s legislative meddling.
Speaking with SiriusXM’s The Dean Obeidallah Show on Wednesday—just as an earlier government spending package failed, before a slimmer version was passed in the House and Senate on Friday—Vermont Rep. Becca Balint said she’d been eavesdropping on GOP representatives who apparently had nothing pleasant to say about so-called “President Musk.”
Host Dean Obeidallah asked Balint, “So what’s going on? Elon Musk is saying he’s going to primary anyone who votes for this, that he’s literally posting that. So what can you tell us?”
Balint replied, “I’m so glad you asked about this. I was literally moments ago in an elevator with some Republican members who are fuming about the fact that Musk is inserting himself into this conversation, and the threats over X to primary them, to come after them.”
She went on, “Privately, at least, they’ve had it. They’ve had it with people like Musk who think they have the right to insert themselves into a process of elected officials.”
Balint also took a moment to remind viewers that whatever his wealth, online reach or advisory role in President-elect Donald Trump’s forthcoming government, Musk has not himself won an election of any kind.
“We’ve all been elected to represent our constituents,” she said. “He has not been elected—I just want to remind everybody of that. He may be a very wealthy person, but he’s been elected to nothing.”
Her comments were later echoed by Republican Rep. Rich McCormick in an interview with CNN the following night.
Addressing Musk’s interference with legislative process, McCormick told host Kaitlin Collins, “Last time I checked, Elon Musk doesn’t have a vote in Congress.”
McCormick went on, “He has influence, and he’ll put pressure on us to do whatever he thinks the right thing is for him. But I have 760,000 people that voted for me to do the right thing for them. And that’s what matters to me.”
At the eleventh hour, the government averted a shutdown, with Speaker Mike Johnson declaring that he thinks Trump is “very happy about this outcome,” despite not getting his wish for a debt ceiling increase.
