Speaker Johnson Reacts To Elon Musk Calling GOP Budget Bill 'Disgusting Abomination'

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Speaker Johnson responds to Elon Musk calling the GOP budget reconciliation bill a "disgusting abomination."

Transcript

00:00Mr. Stinker, what do you say to Elon Musk who just called your bill a disgusting combination?

00:05Yeah, let me say this.

00:07It's very disappointing, okay?

00:09I've come to consider Elon a good friend.

00:11He's obviously a very intelligent person, and he's done a lot of great work.

00:15We've applauded all the work they've done with Doge and

00:18identifying fraud, waste, and abuse in the government.

00:20It's a very important service that's been performed.

00:22And we're so excited about it, we're now in the process of codifying that.

00:25As you all know, the administration has qualified and quantified the fraud,

00:30waste, and abuse that they found in Doge.

00:32They're sending it to us to codify, and that's what we'll be doing with the

00:35rescissions package and the appropriations process.

00:37And so that's something we're very excited about.

00:39But with all due respect, my friend Elon is terribly wrong about the one big,

00:44beautiful bill.

00:45We had a long conversation yesterday, he and I spoke for, I think,

00:48more than 20 minutes on the telephone.

00:50And I extolled all the virtues of the bill, and he seemed to understand that.

00:54We had a very friendly conversation about it.

00:56And I told him that we're achieving not only all of our priorities,

01:00all the promises we made on the campaign trail,

01:02all the America First agenda wrapped into this legislation.

01:05We're also achieving, the top line on this is two very important things.

01:09We're making permanent a massive tax cut.

01:12And we are making a massive reduction in spending.

01:15$1.6 trillion is the calculation.

01:18I've said this many times, I'll be saying it until we get this thing over the line.

01:22This is the most amount of money that any government has ever saved on planet Earth

01:25in a piece of legislation, ever.

01:27She said you're right.

01:27It's a very important first start.

01:29Elon is missing it, okay?

01:31And it's not personal.

01:33I know that the EB mandate is very important to him.

01:37That is going away because the government should not be subsidizing these things.

01:40It's part of the Green New Deal.

01:42And I know that has an effect on his business, and I lament that.

01:45We talked about the ramp-down period on that and how that should be duly considered by Congress.

01:50But for him to come out and pan the whole bill is to me just very disappointing, very surprising,

01:56in light of the conversation I had with him yesterday.

01:57Do you think it's Tesla's what's driving this, is that what you're suggesting?

02:01I'm going to let others draw their own conclusions about that, but this is not personal between any of us.

02:06I just deeply regret that he's made this mistake.

02:10I would tell you, listen, I'm going to remind everybody again.

02:13Every hard-working American ought to be in favor of this bill.

02:15This is geared for middle and lower-income Americans.

02:19It is going to give dramatic tax relief, historic tax relief.

02:22It is going to make sure that we get American energy dominant again.

02:26It's going to fix the border, which is a top priority for everybody in the country.

02:29It's going to help us with our military industrial base at one of the most dangerous times in the history of our country.

02:35All these things wrapped into regulatory reform, I mean, this is the key to the economic resurgence of America.

02:42It's going to be jet fuel for the economy, and the sooner we do it, the better.

02:45And by the way, the debt ceiling is also wrapped into this legislation.

02:49That is a dangerous thing for Elon or anyone who cares about the U.S. economy to be meddling with, and I think the risk is very great.

02:57We have to pass this legislation.

02:58The Senate is doing some good, thoughtful, deliberate work right now.

03:01We're looking forward to moving it through the process, and the president is very much looking forward to

03:05stung that into law by an independent state.

03:07Are you worried?

03:08Are you worried about how much is going to be raised?

03:09Are you worried about how much is going to be raised, guys?

03:10How much is going to be raised, guys?

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