MSNBC's Mike Barnicle questioned Elon Musk's intellect as a supposedly "certified genius" — as he handed Democrats what Barnicle called an easy political win.
The tech billionaire and close adviser to President Donald Trump announced the widely popular entitlement programs Social Security and Medicare were on the chopping block as he makes sweeping cuts to the government workforce and other federal spending, and the "Morning Joe" contributor said that could help Democrats win next year's midterm elections.
"There are 80,000 Americans over the age of 100, [and] listening to Elon Musk makes me feel as if I am one of them," Barnicle said. "I mean, it's incredible listening to him. Let's stipulate that Elon Musk is a genius, certified genius. Let's also stipulate that he has the arrogance of an intellect that is so far removed from reality that he has the likelihood, the high likelihood, we've just seen it proven, of going on national television and stating, basically, Medicare and Social Security are Ponzi schemes that are ridiculous.
"They are the life essence of many people's, many Americans' lives. Elon Musk does not, he does not know that – he'll never realize it. But it is a ticket, I think, to getting back the House of Representatives for the Democrats if they continue down this path."
Host Joe Scarborough compared Musk's remarks about entitlement programs to infamous bank robber Willie Sutton.
"Was it Willie Sutton that said you robbed banks because that's where the money is?" Scarborough said. "Was it Willie Sutton? Because that's what Elon Musk just said. Elon Musk didn't say we're going after waste, fraud and abuse in Medicare. What he said was we've got to get rid of Social Security and Medicare. There's about $80 billion right there every year. So just so people don't go, oh, but he was talking about waste, fraud and abuse. Do you know how much money was spent on Medicare last year? About $80 billion. He's talking about the whole kit and caboodle."
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