My colleagues and I write about how Elon Musk controls political conversations. I headed to Oak Claire, Wisconsin yesterday because I wanted to hear how it actually sounded. There, Democrats turned the billionaire into a major villain in the High Stakes Supreme Court race.
After all, it sounds a bit crude.
Gov. Tim Waltz, a Minnesota Democrat, was in Eau Claire for a town hall-style event aimed at venturing Democrats about a race that could determine the ideological balance of the state’s top court. The mask-backed group poured millions of dollars into the race on behalf of conservative candidate Brad Simmell. Democrats are currently framing the contest as “The People vs. Musk.”
Walz began by saying that calling a name doesn’t work. He then called the mask “dipsit,” and “the crowd cried out “Neppo baby in South Africa,” who later had the power to cut government programs.
Musk was born in South Africa but has been a US citizen for over 20 years. The attack reflects private calculations that throwing a mask as a foreign government intruder might help him oppose his work. As I wrote today, Walz’s comments suggest that the attack is advancing into public conversations.
Waltz, a candidate for the Vice President’s party last year, is one of several Democrats who cited Musk’s immigration background by intensifying attacks on the powerful role of billionaires in the Trump administration. Sometimes their language was throwing masks as foreign outsiders, reflecting the xenophobic aspects of Trump’s own political enemy, but Trump’s remarks were usually directed at elected officials of color rather than white billionaires.
At a press conference last month, Ohio MP Mercy Captur said, “Which country is he loyal to? South Africa, Canada or the US? New York president Nydia Velazquez declared Musk should “return to South Africa” in recent protests. In another protest, Virginia Representative Don Bayer said “we intend to send Elon back to South Africa.”
President Trump frequently shamed his political enemies, including former President Barack Obama, former Vice President Kamala Harris and a group of progressive women of color in the House of Representatives. These attacks also carried racist groups, as the targets were largely black.
