Earlier today I wrote about the seething frustration in the Democratic Party over Elon Musk and DOGE. I highlighted a NY Times story which read like a list of Democratic talking points and compared it to an actual list of Democratic talking points posted on X by Chuck Schumer. This one:
An unelected shadow government is conducting a hostile takeover of the federal government.
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) February 3, 2025
DOGE is not a real government agency.
DOGE has no authority to make spending decisions.
DOGE has no authority to shut programs down or to ignore federal law.
DOGE’s conduct cannot be…
But yesterday and today the Dems have clearly settled on a much simpler message. See if you can spot it in this collection of tweets from elected Democrats.
Elon Musk is an unelected billionaire. He should not have access to or control over trillions in Treasury payments. From Social Security, to Medicare, and even tax refunds, this is the American people’s money.
— Rep. Ted Lieu (@RepTedLieu) February 3, 2025
An unelected billionaire now has unprecedented access to U.S. citizens' Social Security, tax returns, and even veteran benefits. This is an alarming breach of trust and privacy.
— Amy Klobuchar (@amyklobuchar) February 4, 2025
Elon Musk, an unelected billionaire, now has access to Americans' private and personal information, including sensitive tax documents. This raises all kinds of questions about the use and abuse of that information for targeting of citizens, to use for legal or financial gain.
— Sen. Elissa Slotkin (@SenatorSlotkin) February 4, 2025
Unelected billionaire Elon Musk has no place in the Treasury Department or USAID.
— U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor (@USRepKCastor) February 3, 2025
House Democrats will be fighting this blatant corruption with every tool at our disposal. pic.twitter.com/sBPKRS7lWN
Elon Musk—an unelected billionaire—cannot just force his way into gaining access to Wisconsinites’ most sensitive information and our nation's checkbook so he can slash programs Wisconsin families rely on.
— Sen. Tammy Baldwin (@SenatorBaldwin) February 4, 2025
Is he coming after Social Security? Veterans healthcare? It has to stop.
We cannot allow Elon Musk, the richest man on earth, to seize control of $6 trillion in Treasury payments, including Social Security checks, Medicare benefits, and tax refunds. An unelected billionaire should not have power over our families' livelihoods.
— Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (@RepRashida) February 3, 2025
Elon Musk illegally seized the purse strings of the United States. An unelected billionaire may have access to everyone’s social security numbers.
— Senator Tina Smith (@SenTinaSmith) February 3, 2025
We need answers now. This power grab cannot stand.
In Trump's America, an unelected billionaire like Elon Musk gets to wield unchecked power, cut off aid from those who need it the most, then fire anyone who stands up for what's right—or what's legal.
— Tammy Duckworth (@SenDuckworth) February 4, 2025
Trump and Musk aren't making America great. They're making it authoritarian. https://t.co/83AIxPkLj0
My constituents are scared. An unelected billionaire has no business handling our sensitive government data and making decisions about our Social Security benefits.
— Rep. Morgan McGarvey (@RepMcGarvey) February 3, 2025
House Democrats are doing everything we can to prevent this — House Republicans need to step up too.
Elon Musk, an unelected billionaire, should not have unchecked influence over critical decisions or access to Americans' personal financial information.
— Sharice Davids (@sharicedavids) February 3, 2025
We must prioritize the privacy and needs of hardworking Americans, not those with the deepest pockets.
Elon Musk is an unelected billionaire with his own financial motives and interests.
— Rep. Juan Vargas (@RepJuanVargas) February 3, 2025
He should not have access to $6 trillion in Treasury payments and millions of people’s personal data.
We're fighting back with every tool at our disposal. https://t.co/Vq0nxwyn2E
AOC may be one of the first to push this, giving you an idea where it is coming from.
This is a five alarm fire.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) February 2, 2025
The people elected Donald Trump to be President - not Elon Musk.
Having an unelected billionaire, with his own foreign debts and motives, raiding US classified information is a grave threat to national security.
This should not be a partisan issue. https://t.co/OkEfM1n1Ga
Other left wing groups are jumping on this bandwagon.
“Americans voted for one man, Donald J. Trump.”
— American Bridge 21st Century (@American_Bridge) February 4, 2025
So why is an unelected billionaire and a team of inexperienced engineers shutting down key agencies and getting full access to the data of millions of Americans? pic.twitter.com/0JZwyzVUrq
And the unions:
“It appears as if there is an unelected billionaire more or less running the federal gov right now, who none of us voted for, who seems to be breaking both the law and potentially the constitution all over the place."
— More Perfect Union (@MorePerfectUS) February 4, 2025
- Justin Chen, Pres. AFGE local 1003https://t.co/KjvLQotUAK
Elon Musk, an unelected billionaire with a history of attacking his employees and unions, is now using his power to hurt the working people who make this country run. https://t.co/Im7Rscz9ZG
— Liz Shuler (@LizShuler) December 19, 2024
Democrats held a rally yesterday outside USAID yesterday and this was the message:
Elon Musk—an unelected billionaire with a long list of conflicts of interest and deep ties to China—is hijacking our nation's checkbook so he can block funds that help the American people.
— Senator Patty Murray (@PattyMurray) February 3, 2025
It's corrupt—and it's putting our economy & the most at-risk communities in jeopardy. pic.twitter.com/QbZruDfuSD
Today there was another rally outside the Treasury. Same message.
.@MaxwellFrostFL: We just tried to enter the Treasury Building because we need to provide oversight to Elon Musk. The people deserve transparency. The fact that an unelected billionaire has all your private information is a problem pic.twitter.com/3dLOkVnHSC
— FactPost (@factpostnews) February 4, 2025
🚨🚨🚨LIVE from the Treasury Department in Washington.
— Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández (@RepTeresaLF) February 4, 2025
We are DEMANDING answers about the hostile takeover of American’s personal info by an unelected billionaire. pic.twitter.com/WsjWvgwupx
Bernie may not have made it to the rally but he's on message.
Sen. Sanders: "Presidents, much less unelected billionaires, do not have the unilateral right to shut down federal agencies established by Congress." pic.twitter.com/ceI2bZbrOe
— Jeremy Slevin (@jeremyslevin) February 4, 2025
Elizabeth Warren did make it to the rally and was on message.
Democrats are literally just screaming about @elonmusk now.
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) February 4, 2025
This is the resistance. pic.twitter.com/9PUevWQuir
Rep. Ayanna Pressley went off script calling Musk a "Nazi nepo baby." She said this right after saying we will "see you in the streets."
“Elon Musk is a Nazi nepo baby, a godless lawless billionaire. This is America, this is not your trashy cyber truck” - @AyannaPressley pic.twitter.com/ppAt9MqMme
— Leah Greenberg (@Leahgreenb) February 4, 2025
Notice the "Arrest Musk" sign behind her. Trump has been in office for 2 weeks and the Democrats are already at the "Lock him up" stage of the resistance. I actually thought it was just the sign, but no they were chanting it today.
Democrats are now calling to imprison Elon Musk. They completely lost their minds. pic.twitter.com/Po2Kh0IPBY
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) February 4, 2025
But it got even hotter than that. "We are at war!"
Explicitly declaring war against the elected government seems kinda insurrection-y. https://t.co/VM6twvMAcD
— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) February 4, 2025
I could keep going but I'm sure you get it. The talking points were agreed upon and sent out. They are shouting "unelected billionaire" from the rooftops.
Needless to say both words are true and also irrelevant. DOGE is operating under President Trump who was elected and has authority over the executive branch. It wasn't even a surprise. He campaigned on DOGE with Elon Musk at his events. What's happened here is that Democrats have found their rallying cry.
Dems have found their unifying purpose and rallying cry: keep your hands off the government’s unfettered spending of your tax dollars!!! https://t.co/OGmBmLDt7w
— Tom Bevan (@TomBevanRCP) February 4, 2025
I think Democrats are going to see this shouty media strategy get away from them just as they did all last year when they were comparing Trump to Hitler for months on end. None of them believed that, not really. With the exception of Michelle Obama, they all shook his hand and congratulated him after the election. But they also got enough people agitated that we had two assassination attempts in a few months. Here we go again. Let's see if we can turn the country against a single man.
I’ve been warning the left for a long time to brace for impact because we lost touch with populism and electoral losses were on the way. Now, I’ll warn the right-wing to brace for impact. The country is about to turn on @elonmusk.
— Cenk Uygur (@cenkuygur) February 4, 2025
Going fast and breaking things might work in…
Democrats call it the climate of hate, at least they do when Republicans are doing what they are doing right now. The crazies are already ranting about murdering Elon Musk. One subreddit was shut down today because there were so many threats.
If someone tells you "r/WhitePeopleTwitter got punished for Criticizing Elon" here's what the Redditors on the subreddit were saying prior to the ban: pic.twitter.com/EoESfNNhXY
— Reddit Lies (@reddit_lies) February 4, 2025
This afternoon there are people talking about storming the White House.
I genuinely can't believe what I'm reading right now. pic.twitter.com/iHox02CIYX
— Reddit Lies (@reddit_lies) February 4, 2025
Democrats are playing with fire. It would help if anyone in the national media cared about tone policing Democrats they way they do Trump routinely. Instead they are just amplifying the left's talking points, driving more energy into the system. If something horrible happens a week from now or two, they will all somberly assure us "violence is terrible" even as Democrats on Reddit celebrate another Luigi Mangione.
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