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Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York told The Independent that President Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s feud confirmed what she and Sen. Bernie Sanders have warned about ultra-wealthy Americans.
“I mean, it was a long time coming,” said the progressive firebrand, who is better known to many Americans simply by her initials, AOC.
The self-described democratic socialist congresswoman has spent much of the last few months traveling with Sanders, an independent socialist from Vermont by way of Brooklyn. The two have spent much of the first few months of Trump’s second presidency traveling the country as part of their “Fighting Oligarchy Tour.”
“I don't think that the whole state of the country should be with two should be concentrated in two guys with massive egos that are fighting with each other,” she said.
On Thursday, Musk, who enthusiastically endorsed Trump and bankrolled his campaign in 2024, went ballistic on the president, ultimately saying that Trump was “in the Epstein files,” which explained why they had not been released. Musk then ramped up the rhetoric even more by supporting his impeachment.
This came after Musk credited himself with Trump’s victory.
“Without me, Trump would have lost the election, Dems would control the House and the Republicans would be 51-49 in the Senate,” Musk posted on X. “Such ingratitude.”
The feud kicked off in earnest on Tuesday, when Musk called the “One Big, Beautiful Bill,” which the House of Representatives passed last month, an “outrageous, pork-filled, disgusting abomination.”
Musk’s words caused a headache for Republicans in the Senate, who hope to pass their own version of the legislation, which seeks to extend the tax cuts Trump signed in his first presidency, would ramp up spending on the US-Mexico border for immigration enforcement and slash spending for social services.
Other Democrats like Rep. Sarah McBride of Delaware called the feud the “big, beautiful breakup.” The fight between the world’s richest man and the most powerful leader in the world flooded the internet with memes.
The intra-personal feud between the two is a sharp turn from when the Tesla CEO and X owner billed himself as the “First Buddy” who led the Department of Government Efficiency and regularly made the trek across Pennsylvania Avenue to meet with lawmakers whenever they feared services their constituents used would be subjected to his “Chainsaw of Bureaucracy.”
In recent months, Ocasio-Cortez has become a major player in the House Democratic caucus. Despite losing her bid to become the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, she joined the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee, which not only handles energy policies like health care.
One recent poll showed Ocasio-Cortez to be more popular than either the president or Kamala Harris, the 2024 Democratic nominee for president. Others have suggested that she either stage a primary challenge or succeed Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.
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