Sen. Cory Booker says he will not settle for marketing campaign donations from Elon Musk
Sen. Cory Booker on Sunday mentioned he wouldn’t settle for marketing campaign donations from tech mogul Elon Musk however urged the previous Trump adviser to “get entangled proper now in a extra substantive means” in Democrats’ push towards the sweeping GOP-backed spending invoice.
“This invoice is disastrous for our long-term economic system,” Booker informed NBC Information’ “Meet the Press.” “That is an American concern, and I welcome Elon Musk to not my marketing campaign. I welcome him proper now, to not sit again and simply hearth off tweets, get entangled proper now in a extra substantive means in placing stress on Congress folks and senators to not do that.”
Requested straight whether or not he would ever settle for marketing campaign funding from Musk, Booker mentioned, “I might not settle for cash from Elon Musk for my marketing campaign, however I might be supportive of anyone, together with Elon Musk, placing sources ahead proper now to let extra People know” concerning the invoice.
Booker’s remarks come as different Democrats, like Rep. Ro Khanna of California, have floated welcoming Musk into the Democratic Get together after a feud between President Donald Trump and the Tesla and SpaceX CEO exploded into public view final week.
“We should always in the end be attempting to persuade him that the Democratic Get together has extra of the values that he agrees with,” Khanna informed Politico final week after Musk and Trump fired off a sequence of social media posts criticizing one another.
The falling out began after Musk known as the funds invoice a “disgusting abomination” in a submit on X. In subsequent posts on Fact Social, the president accused Musk of “sporting skinny” and mentioned “he simply went loopy.”
Musk later accused Trump of “ingratitude” in one other submit on X after he spent $250 million boosting Trump’s marketing campaign in 2024 and accused Trump of hyperlinks to deceased intercourse offender Jeffrey Epstein in a now-deleted submit.
On Saturday, in a cellphone name with NBC Information, Trump mentioned he has no need to restore his relationship with Musk after their public spat.
The president additionally responded to a direct query about what may occur if Musk determined to financially help Democrats within the 2026 midterm elections, days after Musk wrote in a submit on X, “In November subsequent 12 months, we hearth all politicians who betrayed the American folks,” showing to discuss with Republicans who voted for the GOP-backed spending invoice within the Home.
“If he does, he’ll need to pay the results for that,” Trump informed NBC Information, including that there could possibly be “severe penalties.”
In Could, Home Republicans handed a sweeping home coverage invoice known as the “One Large Lovely Invoice Act” that might lengthen tax cuts handed within the first Trump administration, enhance funding for border safety and remove federal taxes on suggestions and extra time pay. The invoice has additionally drawn scrutiny from Democrats for slashing funding for Medicaid and a few meals stamps whereas including work necessities for Medicaid, which supplies well being take care of low-income People.
Musk and a few Senate Republicans have blasted the invoice for estimated results it might have on the federal debt and deficit, although Trump and Home Republicans have downplayed these considerations.
“Extra People have to grasp that if this invoice passes, common People are going to see their prices skyrocket as this president once more pushes laws that’s indicative of his chaos, corruption and cruelty in the direction of People,” Booker mentioned on Sunday.
