Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) claimed he doesn’t know a single Democrat involved about tech billionaire Elon Musk’s risk to fund reasonable main challenges in opposition to sitting Democrats in deep-blue districts.
Clyburn, a veteran lawmaker, argued on Saturday that Democrats will overcome Musk by outworking their opposition.
“Look, I‘m a child of the 60s. I grew up here in South Carolina. Uh, I was I missed the vote yesterday because I was, uh, part of eulogizing the gentleman from very modest backgrounds who brought that flag down off the statehouse dome and started the effort, uh, all over the South, uh, to get rid of all of these confederate emblems,” Clyburn mentioned throughout his Saturday look on CNN.
“We did that with a lot of money against us. When I worked with John Lewis back in the 60s, a lot of money and power was against us,” he mentioned, referring to the influential civil rights activist and former lawmaker. “We did what we needed to do, and I don‘t know of a single Democrat who’s afraid of Elon Musk‘s cash as a result of we keep near our constituents and we’ll outwork him.”
The South Carolina Democrat’s feedback come only a few days after Musk, a detailed ally of President-elect Trump, mentioned he would fund challengers in opposition to incumbent Democrats in heavy-blue areas.
“Oh … forgot to mention that I’m also going to be funding moderate candidates in heavily Democrat districts, so that the country can get rid of those who don’t represent them, like this jacka‑‑,” Musk mentioned Thursday on the social media platform X.
Musk, alongside former 2024 GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, was chosen by Trump to move the Division of Authorities Effectivity (DOGE) which is able to deal with slashing authorities spending.
Over the course of this week, Musk showcased his affect over authorities funding negotiations on Capitol Hill, repeatedly weighing in on the pending laws along with his posts on X because the Friday midnight deadline loomed. He helped torpedo the preliminary bipartisan stopgap spending invoice that Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) rolled out after negotiating with Democrats.
The Tesla CEO was not shy about backing Trump in the course of the 2024 presidential election, spending a minimum of $250 million to assist elect the Republican candidate for a second time period within the White Home, in line with Federal Election Fee (FEC) filings. America PAC, a Tremendous PAC that was fashioned in the course of the 2024 cycle and is closely financed by Musk, additionally spent cash on quite a lot of Home races.
Constructing America’s Future, a Musk-backed dark-money group, spent $23 million final 12 months, in line with latest tax data. The group is led by Generra Peck and Phil Cox, two Republican operatives with ties to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R). Throughout 2022, the group raked in $53 million, in line with tax filings.
