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.”
