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- Billionaire Elon Musk replied to Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s critique of his tax-paying habits on Tuesday.
- He said that the senator reminded him of a friend’s “angry Mom” who would “randomly yell at everyone for no reason.”
- ProPublica previously reported that Musk paid no federal income taxes in 2018.
TIME person of the year and richest man in the world Elon Musk took to Twitter on Tuesday to respond to Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s critique of his tax-paying habits and push for policy changes.
“Let’s change the rigged tax code so The Person of the Year will actually pay taxes and stop freeloading off everyone else,” Warren initially wrote on Twitter.
In his latest response, Musk wrote: “You remind me of when I was a kid and my friend’s angry Mom would just randomly yell at everyone for no reason.” Warren is indeed a mother, as well as a Harvard Law School professor and leading progressive voice.
He did not mention anything about tax proposals. A recent ProPublica investigation found that the billionaire, who is currently worth over $250 billion, paid no federal income taxes in 2018. Policymakers like Warren have been pushing for new tax measures that would target the net worths and assets of billionaires like Musk, who are able to use perfectly legal methods to not be on the hook for federal income taxes.
It was the latest insult that Musk lobbed at Senate Democrats in recent weeks. He previously took aim at Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon with a crude insult. Wyden was the chief author of a billionaire’s income tax plan that would have slapped Musk with an estimated $10 billion annual tax bill.
Musk also disparaged Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, a prominent lawmaker who has aggressively advocated to tax the wealthiest Americans and large firms. “I keep forgetting that you’re still alive,” Musk wrote on Twitter.
And Musk also assailed President Joe Biden’s $2 trillion social and climate spending plan, arguing Democrats should “just can the whole thing.” He’s opposed to federal subsidies for electric vehicle charging stations.
In his interview with TIME, Musk said that he thinks “the government is inherently not a good steward of capital” — although he’s received government subsidies for various business ventures.
“In general, I believe government should rarely impose its will upon the people, and, when doing so, should aspire to maximize their cumulative happiness,” Musk said in one Twitter reply in September. Then, he added:
“That said, I would prefer to stay out of politics.”
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