MSNBC’s Morning Joe crew slammed billionaire tech mogul Elon Musk’s alleged calls with Russian President Vladimir Putin as “un-American” after a bombshell Wall Street Journal investigation reported there had been regular communication between the two since the war in Ukraine began.
According to intelligence sources cited by the Journal, Musk and Putin maintained communication from 2022 into this year. The newspaper claimed the reported discussions took place as Musk’s public criticism of U.S. military support for Ukraine intensified and as he took an active role in promoting the presidential campaign of former President Donald Trump.
In a notable request, Putin once was reported to have urged Musk to refrain from activating his Starlink satellite internet service over Taiwan—a favor reportedly asked on behalf of Chinese President Xi Jinping, according to two individuals briefed on the matter.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed Friday that Putin and Musk had one telephone call to discuss space and technology but denied there had been more conversations.
After a news report from an NBC journalist at the 2024 BRICS summit, the conversation in the Morning Joe studio pivoted to Musk and Putin.
Co-host Jonathan Lemire called the story a “stunning revelation” before growing more heated in his criticism, blasting Putin as “a sworn enemy of the United States” and repeating that Musk’s companies hold multiple government defense contracts.
He said: “Elon Musk, his companies have significant Department of Defense contracts, yet he’s talking to a sworn enemy of the United States. Not only that, a sworn enemy of the United States who has been conclusively proven to have interfered in American elections.”
He continued: “Elon Musk is, right now, Donald Trump’s top surrogate, controlling information on twitter/x, and being out there, giving out money to get people to register to vote and, therefore, vote for Donald Trump. It is just an extraordinary, un-American development.”
Morning Joe contributor Elise Jordan repeated Lemire’s points in disbelief, noting that there were few with “skin in the game” like Musk: “It’s an extraordinary development to have a huge American contractor who is collecting millions and billions from the American government actively campaigning for a presidential candidate. That seems unprecedented. I can’t think of a military contractor who has really put skin in the game the way Elon Musk has.”
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