There’s a feud on Twitter that just refuses to die, and it revolves around Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont⏤a die-hard advocate for taxing the wealthy⏤and Tesla founder Elon Musk, who is the world’s richest person according to CBS News.
The latest chapter of the spat happened on Sunday when Musk tweeted, “I keep forgetting that you’re still alive” in response to Sanders’ renewed calls that “the extremely wealthy pay their fair share. Period.”
Musk added sarcastically, “Want me to sell more stock, Bernie? Just say the word…”
The comments received quite a bit of backlash from people on the social media site including author Marianne Williamson, who wrote, “What a deeply offensive thing to say.”
Writer Shaun King also added the remark was “a deeply gross and inhumane thing to say.”
Even music critic and social media personality Anthony Fantano felt the need to chime in, pointing out a reported unsavory connection between Musk’s brother and Jeffrey Epstein.
CBS news reported that following Musk’s remark, shares of Tesla fell by 2.1% to $1,012 in early trading on Monday.
This all comes amid a renewed effort by Sanders and other Democrats to consider a new tax on billionaires that would help fund President Joe Biden’s proposed $3.2 trillion social spending package, which has been compromised down to just $1.75 trillion. It’s not expected to make much movement in Congress, though the proposed tax would only impact about 700 people, including Musk. This all comes after the collective worth of America’s billionaires surged by about $2 trillion during the pandemic.
This call for taxing the rich isn’t new territory for Sanders, who was advocating for a similar proposal last year. This initial call for taxing billionaires appears to be the impetus of the Sanders-Musk feud, with Musk posting a meme mocking Sanders last year.
Back in 2020, Sanders responded to Musk, saying “Every time Elon Musk pokes fun at government assistance for the 99%, remember that he would be worth nothing without $4.9 billion in corporate welfare. Oh, Elon just l-o-v-e-s corporate socialism for himself, rugged capitalism for everyone else.”
What do you think about the ongoing Twitter fight between Bernie Sanders and Elon Musk? Leave it in the comments below.