Top Republican Flames Musk for Pushing GOP ‘Off the Cliff’
“I’d rather go down in history as being on the right side of this stuff,” the Nebraska Republican said.
Photo Illustration by Eric Faison/The Daily Beast/Getty Images
Nebraska GOP Rep. Don Bacon blamed billionaire Elon Musk for bankrolling the Republican party to a point of no return amid the former “First Buddy’s” very public spat with President Donald Trump.
Bacon—who has publicly opposed Trump’s handling of the Russia-Ukraine war, tariffs, Signalgate, and cuts to the United States Agency for International Development—told the New York Times he refuses to follow his party “off the cliff” and into oblivion.
Bacon pointed the finger at Musk for using his money to muscle his way into politics, saying the Tesla CEO used his financial hold over Republicans to tank a bipartisan spending bill that would have averted a government shutdown in December.
“I sort of blame him for that disaster,” Bacon, 61, said.
Bacon was the sole House Republican to vote “no” on renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. However, he did vote “yes” to shuffle Trump’s “big beautiful bill” to its next phase.
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Upon voting, Bacon announced that the bill, though “not perfect,” “delivers for Nebraskans.”
Republican Congressman Don Bacon said his party is going in a direction he won't follow.
Drew Angerer/Getty Images
“I don’t like voting ‘no,’” Bacon said. “I like fixing things.” He added that he does what Trump “has done” at the Southern Border. “I have no problem with that,” he said.
With Musk on the outs with Trump, Bacon said it’s an opportunity to “fight for the soul of our party,”
“I don’t want to be the guy who follows the flute player off the cliff. I think that’s what’s going on right now,” Bacon said, comparing his numerous breaks from party lines to Winston Churchill condemning Adolf Hitler in the 1930s.
Bacon added, “Winston Churchill, who is one of my heroes, he was very unpopular 1932 through ’40 because he was anti-Nazi. But in 1940, they go, ‘Who was the only guy that knew what was going on?’”
Shooting down any talk of campaigning to take the top job for himself as president, Bacon instead put the buzz out that he’d like to go into intelligence.
“If I had a perfect lane, someday I’d love to work in an administration as director of intelligence or secretary of Defense or Air Force,” he said.
He added, “I’d rather go down in history as being on the right side of this stuff.”
The Daily Beast has reached out to Elon Musk for comment on Bacon’s remarks.
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