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OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author’s opinion.
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Iowa GOP Sen. Joni Ernst pushed back on Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s criticism of SpaceX, Tesla, and Starlink founder and CEO Elon Musk after she claimed the billionaire entrepreneur had no qualifications to identify and cut government fraud and waste.
During a Fox News appearance on Thursday, anchor John Roberts played a clip of the Bronx Democrat’s remarks before asking Ernst to respond.
“Elon Musk is not a scientist. He is not an engineer. He is a billionaire con man with a lot of money. He does not have this kind of good background,” Ocasio-Cortez said, per the clip.
“You met with Elon Musk earlier today,” Roberts said, asking: “What would you say to the good congresswoman?”
“I would ask what her background is,” Ernst began. “I think it takes a lot of different talents and abilities to go in, and obviously, Elon Musk when he went into the role of the Department of Government Efficiency, he brought with him a lot of technical expertise that allows him and his team to go in and work with the agencies, and that’s key. They’re working with the agencies to query through the systems where there might be waste.
“So, I would say I’m going to push back on that because, again, here is someone who maybe doesn’t have the same talents and abilities to be a congressman or a congresswoman than anybody else. So, I don’t see where she’s going with that. But obviously, Elon Musk has the right skills and ability to ferret out waste in the federal government,” Ernst continued.
“She forgot to mention he’s a guy who can catch rocket boosters too. That’s a pretty impressive skill,” Roberts added.
“Yes, exactly,” the GOP senator responded. “You know, it’s who you surround yourself — it’s who you surround yourself with.”
WATCH:
Musk spoke about his efforts to cut government waste as overseer of the Department of Government Efficiency during President Donald Trump’s first Cabinet meeting this week.
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“DOGE is a support function for the president and for the agencies and departments, to help achieve those savings and to effectively find 15% in reduction in fraud and waste,” Musk said.
“I’m taking a lot of flak and getting a lot of death threats, by the way. I can, like, stack them up,” Musk added. “But if we don’t do this, America will go bankrupt. That’s why it has to be done.”
Trump, at one point, lightened the mood a bit during the meeting. “Is anybody unhappy with Elon?” he asked his secretaries after a reporter asked the president if any Cabinet members were dissatisfied with Musk’s role. “If you are, well, throw them out of here,” he said to laughs and applause.
Trump added: “Some disagree a little bit, but I will tell you, for the most part, I think everyone’s not only happy, they’re thrilled.”
Trump, alongside Vice President J.D. Vance, met with his Cabinet for over an hour, addressing a variety of questions from reporters in attendance. During the meeting, Trump announced that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will visit the White House on Friday to sign an agreement requiring Ukraine to allocate a portion of its mineral resource revenue to repay the U.S. for the financial support it has provided in defense efforts since Russia’s invasion three years ago.
Trump also said he would be announcing 25% tariffs soon on vehicles and other imports from countries in the European Union. “They’ve really taken advantage of us,” Trump said of EU’s leadership. “They don’t accept our cars. They don’t accept, essentially, our farm products. They use all sorts of reasons why not.”