New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez described Elon Musk as stupid and immoral in an Instagram video condemning the billionaire Trump surrogate’s involvement in dismantling government agencies like USAID.
According to the 14th congressional district representative, she’s met wealthy people who are a lot more impressive than the world’s richest man.
“This dude is probably one of the most unintelligent billionaires I have ever met or seen or witnessed,” Ocasio-Cortez laughed in her video.
After Musk reportedly spent nearly $300 million to get Trump and his MAGA movement back into office, the president tasked his megadonor with heading a department to cut government spending. Critics like Ocasio-Cortez worry that will amount to the elimination of important services and tax breaks for the wealthy.
She contended Monday night that Musk and his young team of helpers “don’t do their homework” and have no understanding of the institutions they’re impacting.
“This dude is not smart,” she said of the entrepreneur whose involvement in electric cars and space exploration make him worth more than $400 billion.
Ocasio-Cortez cited last week’s temporary freeze on Medicaid portals is an example of what can go wrong if people like Musk and his tech-world acolytes are allowed to tinker in systems she claims they don’t understand.
According to the 35-year-old lawmaker, Musk’s “lack of intelligence,” “lack of expertise” and “morally vacant” approach to such systems will continue being problematic.
Musk and Ocasio-Cortez traded barbs in 2023 when she complained that X had become a dysfunctional hotbed for harassment after he took over the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
“Methinks somebody doth protest too much … ” Musk replied, paraphrasing William Shakespeare.
Musk boasted at a political rally in November that he could trim $2 trillion in federal spending. He’s since admitted that cutting half that much would be an accomplishment.
___
© 2025 New York Daily News
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
