Elon Musk publicly endorsed “socialist” healthcare before he became the world’s richest man. Now, years later, he’s running super PAC ads decrying Democrats as “socialists” for supporting government-run healthcare.
In Maine, Musk’s America PAC is attacking Senate candidate Troy Jackson for wanting to “put the government in charge of your healthcare.” One ad, which ran on the streaming service Roku, says “the socialists know Jackson will rubber stamp their agenda,” featuring democratic socialists Bernie Sanders, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Zohran Mamdani in the background. America PAC has also sent door-knockers around Maine to hand out leaflets slamming Jackson for supporting Medicare for All, which would create a comprehensive, universal healthcare system.
Musk’s group has run other ads attacking former Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown as a supporter of “government-run healthcare,” and claiming former Virginia Congresswoman Elaine Luria will help socialists “ban our private health insurance.” (Neither Brown nor Luria back Medicare for All, though they have both supported public health insurance options in the past.)
Yes, it is offensive that the world’s richest man, a major beneficiary of federal contracts and policy, would deploy his incomprehensible wealth to spend on U.S. elections – and, even more, that he would run ads mocking the idea of giving every American cheaper, improved healthcare coverage, along the lines of what people get in other wealthy, industrialized nations.
But there’s also always a tweet. Less than a decade ago, Musk openly touted the idea of government-run, “socialist” healthcare – saying it has majority support – on Twitter, the social media platform he now owns.