Elon Musk calls Steve Bannon ‘evil’ as ex-Trump aide denounces him as ‘owned by the Chinese communist party’
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Although Twitter CEO Elon Musk and former Donald Trump strategist Steve Bannon tend to sit on the same side of the political aisle, the two men don't seem to like each other very much.
Tim Pool, a right-wing podcaster, recently asked Bannon to comment on the CEO of Razer, Min-Liang Tan, encouraging Mr Musk to buy the collapsed Silicon Valley Bank. The tech-focused lender crumbled on Friday, making it the second-largest bank failure in US history.
Mr Musk replied that he was "open to the idea”.
Mr Bannon scoffed at the idea, which Mr Pool called "a bit silly”, and launched into a rant about the Tesla CEO's alleged deference to Beijing.
The former Trump strategist tore into Mr Musk, claiming he has refused to reinstate the Twitter accounts of "true" anti-Chinese government personalities — himself included — since he took over the site.
"Really?" Congressman Matt Gaetz, who was also on the episode, asked, apparently shocked.
"He's owned by the Chinese Communist Party," Mr Bannon said.
He claimed that Mr Musk's "only thing of real value" was Tesla, and that the "Shanghai joint venture" — Tesla's planned Gigafactory 3 plant in Shanghai — is "one hundred per cent controlled" by the Chinese government.
“@ElonMusk is a total and complete phony. He is owned – lock, stock, and barrel – by the Chinese Communist Party, and he acts like it.”
–Steve Bannon on @Timcast IRL
Thoughts? pic.twitter.com/UhwKPvBUSu— Rep. Matt Gaetz (@RepMattGaetz) March 11, 2023
"Elon Musk is a total and complete phony," Mr Bannon said. "He is owned — lock, stock, and barrel — by the Chinese Communist Party, and he acts like it."
Mr Pool also claimed that Mr Musk had been pressured by the Chinese government to stop promoting the "lab leak" coronavirus origin theory, and that he had bent to that pressure.
Mr Bannon noted that Mr Musk had not deleted his original tweets, but also did not add any additional tweets after the alleged pressure from the Chinese.
Mr Gaetz clipped the potion of the interview in which the former Trump aide blasts Mr Musk and shared it to Twitter, tagging the company's CEO and asking him for his thoughts.
Mr Musk made it clear he had no warm feelings for Mr Bannon either.
"I used to think Bannon was smart & evil, but now I realise I was wrong about the first part," Mr Musk wrote in response.
