'This is the problem!' CNN conservative ripped for defending Musk's conflict of interest
A Republican strategist drew heavy flak on "CNN This Morning" for defending tech billionaire Elon Musk's dual role as a government contractor and federal budget slasher.
Donald Trump's megadonor-turned-close adviser posted on his X platform that Verizon's communication system for air traffic control was "breaking down very rapidly" and recommended his own Starlink satellite internet service as an upgrade, but GOP strategist Brad Todd didn't see any problem with Musk dramatically cutting the federal workforce while scooping up government contracts himself.
"Well, the facts are a little bit off here," Todd said. "Verizon has been awarded a contract to lead an overhaul of the FAA's whole system, so Starlink is a potential bidder for part of underneath that after after this overhaul happens. The FAA is running on a copper wire system. I mean, it's crazy. Every American home has got fiber into it now, and the FAA is running on 1950s technology, so there must be modernization. The Trump administration is putting a lot of money into this. They're hiring new controllers, they're boosting salaries of FAA controllers and Sean Duffy, the secretary of transportation, says, 'Look, we want all companies who have something to contribute to come to us, like, we have an urgent crisis here to upgrade this technology.'"
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"Starlink has 40 percent of the satellites above the the earth," Todd added. "It's only logical that in the end they will end up being one of the companies that participate in it because they're so large and they're so on the cutting edge. But Sean Duffy is going to make the call, he's going to make the decision. It won't be made by Elon Musk, but we have to modernize it to keep our skies safe."
Jackie Kucinich, the Washington bureau chief for the Boston Globe, was not persuaded that Musk was sufficiently insulated from ethical conflicts.
"This is the problem with Elon Musk having this kind of amorphous role in this White House because, you know, everything you're saying could be true, but the problem is, the appearance of a conflict of interest is problematic here, and is that why he's not technically the head of DOGE?" Kucinich said. "I don't know, but still, I mean, yes, it is Sean Duffy's call, but you're telling me if if Trump or Elon Musk don't start putting pressure on him, that that's what he's going to do? Come on."
Democratic operative Hyma Moore agreed and said Musk's conflicts represented a political problem for the president.
"Yeah, it does bother [voters] – I mean, it does," said Moore, who served as chief of staff to former DNC chairman Jaime Harrison. "It's a clear conflict of interest. Look, I worked in government even as a 23-year-old. I had conflicts of interest... I couldn't do certain government programs. I couldn't buy a house, you know, in New Orleans, because there are programs that are administered by the government that I won't participate in because I was working for the government. So it was clearly a conflict of interest, I think. Here's here's the two things: One, I think the American people were sick of government not working for them, and so they will they want Donald Trump to fix government."
"That's a fact, but I do think people are a little leery about Elon Musk being the person that's tearing all of this down and benefiting from it. He's making more money every day. Obviously, he's he's getting more influence every day, obviously, and so I think people are a little nervous about that. They just don't know what this Elon Musk, what it's going to be, what it's going to become."
Todd argued that Musk was fulfilling the president's campaign promises, but he conceded that the X owner should reign in his own usage of the platform.
"Donald Trump said we're going to have the best and brightest people, [and] Elon is a very bright person, and Starlink is so important in the world's technology space, it's hard to not include it," Todd said. "You know, for instance, right now in Alaska, if you're a pilot, many times the weather system the FAA operates is down. You have to call in to just a recorded phone line. I mean, this is this is really ancient."
Kucinich interrupted to say that Musk tweeting attacks on business rivals were a potential conflict in themselves, and Moore said those problematic posts occurred on a daily basis.
"I think Elon's texts on X in real time are problem," Todd agreed. "They're sometimes wrong, and he says, 'I'm going to be wrong and I'll correct it. He did correct this. The pacing of it, I think, there's there's a cautionary communications tale here for him posting in real time every hour."
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