Robert Reich demands Democrats ‘defund Musk’ then seize Starlink, SpaceX

He made the comments during his podcast "The Coffee Klatch," while speaking to left-wing commentator Heather Lofthouse. He said that Democrats in Congress should work to "defund" Elon Musk and "lay the groundwork for nationalizing" Musk's companies SpaceX and Starlink. Both companies have major government contracts.

"It should be a public corporation. We should not ever have that kind of power in one person's hands, one private person's hands," he said. "I mean, Musk is trying to buy the senator from Texas. Why should we allow this, seriously?"

Lofthouse replied, "We shouldn't. And then this week, people started talking about, oh, Musk is going to be held accountable, and he said, 'Live by the sword, die by the sword.'"

Last week, Musk replied to a report from CNN that said Democrats are coming for him and his companies if they take control of Congress. "Live by the sword, die by the sword. Those who pick fights with me should understand that I will find out who is really pulling the strings and come for them, not just their puppets," he wrote on X.

Lofthouse said that if the Democrats come after Musk it is simple "accountability" for Musk's actions.

"It's something like what happened in the first Gilded Age, when we had the robber barons," Reich added. "I say this is Exhibit A in terms of the billionaire takeover of America, this is the oligarchic problem. Musk represents the power of oligarchy in America over democracy."

Reich said, "He knows that if the Democrats take over the House and possibly the Senate, one of the things they are going to be doing is focusing on Elon Musk. I mean, he's really going to be targeted, and he knows it ... This is Exhibit A in terms of the billionaire takeover of America, this is the oligarchic problem. Musk represents the power of oligarchy in America over democracy."

They also took issue with Musk cutting off USAID in his capacity with DOGE and claimed that "people are dying" because of Musk and called him a "terrible, terrible human being." Even so, Reich wants the companies he built and to weild them as he and his Democrat cronies see fit.

In response to the comments from Reich, Musk replied on X, "Stealing companies is a serious crime. Prison for Reich."