Elon Musk vows to help defeat Republicans who vote for Trump’s megabill

Elon Musk vows to help defeat Republicans who vote for Trump’s megabill

We begin tonight with what Presi Trump calls his big, beautiful bill, which could be headed for a final vote in the Senate. After a long day of debating amendments to it, and perhaps for some Republican staring into the abyss, here’s w Polling consistently shows it is strikingly unpopular with The Congressional Budget Office estimates it adds more than $3 trillion to the national debt, and could deprive nearly 12 million Americans of health insurance through Medicaid. That, and it now comes with a do of existential terror for Republicans on the fence. On the one hand, the president over the weekend managed to drive one opponent of the bill out of another term on the other. Elon Musk has just weighed in on voting yes, quoting him now, every member of Congress who cam on reducing government spending and then immediately voted for the biggest debt increase in history should hang their head in shame. And if that weren’t enough, he a and they will lose their primary next year. If it is the last thing I do on this earth. Now, given that his Mars mission won’t be ready to go for years. That’s a lot of primaries. But that’s not all. He also reiterated his call from three weeks ago for a new political party, and says he would start one a day after the bill passes. Rock meat, hard place North Carolina’s Thom Tillis chose the rock, announcin that he will not seek another te and he slammed the president on the bill’s Medicaid cuts. What do I tell 663,000 people in two years or three years? When President Trump breaks his by pushing them off of Medicaid because the funding is not there it is inescapable that this bill at its current fo will betray the very promise that Donald J. Trump made in the Oval Office. So today, white House Press Secr Karoline Leavitt said that Senator Tillis is in. These are her words just wrong. But listen to what the president has been saying on the subject going back a decade, and decide for yourself. Save Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security without cuts. Have to do it. We are going to love and cherish social Security Medicare, Medicaid. We’re not going to do anything w Can you guarantee that Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security will not be touc Yeah. I mean, I have said it so many t you shouldn’t be asking me that What happens if it comes to your has the tax cuts but also cuts to Medicaid? Would you veto that? Well, we’re not doing that. Would you veto that? I would if they were cutting it. But they’re not cutting it. We’re not cutting Medicaid. We’re not cutting Medicare. A lot to get to tonight. CNN Chief white House correspond Kaitlan Collins starts us off. Caitlin, how concerned is the white House about potential cracks in the Republican coalition? I mean, they’re watching all of and watching Senator Thom Tillis, you know, in that s floor speech on Sunday, John. But then, of course, after he an that he was not going to be seeking reelection, the president was cheerleading t and saying, essentially, good ri to Thom Tillis, given they belie he’s been a thorn in their side during all of this. And John, obviously, when they look at this overall, and I’ve been talking to white House officials about what they think is ultimately going to happen he they do think this will pass. They don’t think Republicans are going to defy the president on his signature legislation, as big and sweeping as it is, and with those potential cuts. The question is how long it’s going to take to to get this through, to get this And that’s what they’ve been wat obviously, very closely at the white House. But with Senator Tillis there as he’s coming out and he’s saying that the preside is being misinformed by his advi what is actually in this bill and that it’s going to make him essentially go back on the promi that you just heard him say there about not interfering with people’s Medicaid benefits. I mean, the white House is just flatly rejecting that and arguing that it’s wrong. But I think you have to look at, you know, with Tillerson’s decision yesterday to say he’s not going to be seeking reelecti he doesn’t really have a lot to in terms of why he is speaking o and why he is saying that, or any incentive to say something that that he doesn’t actually think could put Republicans in p And so that is something they’re watching, obviously, closely at the white House. They just essentially want to get this passed. They want to be able to talk about tax cuts and have that is something that they are trumpeting. And you’re seeing how the presid is working on this in terms of writing scathing tru social post of people who are disagreeing with him and also taking senators out for golfing trips, calling them up on the phone and chatting with them. As this slog right now on Capito Hill is happening, with all these amendments that they are trying to get past and none of them so far have gon Well, speaking of people who disagree Elon Musk came out with a new old threat today saying he would primary or, you know, push to primary any la who support this bill. That’s a split. Again with the p How does the white House view th Well, it’s interesting because a few white House offici were surprised that he came out today and said this, given he had gone largely quiet on his criticisms of the president and of legislat that he’s trying to get past, he had actually come out and said he regretted some of the things he said about when they were sniping back and forth at one another. Previo And so now to look at this, what he’s saying, I mean, he’s going after this and saying Democrats and Republi are both in the wrong here. A new political party needs to be formed that that all of Washington, he says, is in agreement more than they are in disagreeme and starting to primary Republic who vote yes on this. Obviously, John, that is a lot of Republicans who are likely expected to vote yes on this, but he’s saying that he would be going after but he’s essentially trying to h what he says is the criticism of Republicans who complained about big spending in Washington and then are about to vote on th given the estimates that we’ve s including from the budget office this weekend, of just how much this is going to a to the deficit. Yeah, that’s a lot of primaries. You better have deep pockets. Kaitlan Collins, thank you very And of course, you can join Kait at the top of the hour for the s She’s going to speak to Senator Elizabeth Warren toni Right now, let’s bring in Democratic Senato Richard Blumenthal of Connecticu He’s on the Armed Services and Judiciary Committee. Senator, a nice to see you. Any prediction on what will happen tonight and what time? Certainly, I have no prediction on time, and I’ve just come from the Sena There’s a real question about whether they have the votes. They are really struggling because they face this dilemma o $4.5 trillion in tax cuts, which require them to make slashing cuts in Medicai nutrition programs, in aid to veterans and student l and much, much more, which will have really drastic e on their constituents. So right now, they’re engaged in this horse tr kind of process, providing exemptions or exceptio for parts of populations in certain states trying to get their approval with earmarks as they used to be And the reason they’re strugglin is that the American people get That’s why 2 to 1, they disapprove of this bill. The tax cuts for the billionaire of 4.5 trillion are absolutely necessary, ballooning national debt by 3.3 Absolutely. Absolutely abhorrent. And so I think that they’re going to be struggling for the better part of this even maybe into tomorrow morning or l What does Senator Tillis. His announcement that he won’t seek reelection. What does that tell you? What it tells me is that any Republican who stands up to Donald Trump will be hit. Hit by this torrent of vitriol and vehement threats and intimid And so Donald Trump is running t He is betraying not only his own promises, but the values and promises that Republicans have made to their constituents. And what Tillis decision tells me is their positions in many ways have become unsusta both politically and morally. How does it feel to be aligned with Elon Musk tonight who also opposes this bill? And what difference do you think that his speaking o today will make? We’ll need to say Elon Musk and I are not coordina public positions, but I think he has it right. And the numbers tell the story. Not only the the debt that will balloon and the real suffering that people will see in their everyday lives, kids who break their arms on playgrou or women who find a lump in thei and they go to the emergency roo They’re uncovered seniors who are kicked out of nursing homes, the pain is un and Elon Musk may not feel or see that pain. But top line he knows the financial markets are going reacting to the levels of debt that will be generated. The economy is at risk. The ramifications and ripple effects throughout the economy will be terrible. And I will just say one more thi You know, the Republicans have c this democratic process. They have, in effect, relied on an accounting trick. It is called baseline budgeting and the baseline current policy that enables them to disguise a part of the effect on national So this reliance on accounting t on corrupting the reconciliation which was designed only for by doing the right thing, all kinds of policy restrictions think, will be seen by the American people as fundamentally destructive of the Democratic process. But we will see, certainly maybe see what happens in the Se sometime tonight. Senator Blumenthal, thank you so much for your time.

As the Senate debated President Donald Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill” before a final vote, Musk issued a stark warning via his social media platform X. “Every member of Congress who campaigned on reducing government spending and then immediately voted for the biggest debt increase in history should hang their head in shame! And they will lose their primary next year if it is the last thing I do on this Earth,” he wrote. #CNN #News