'What a hypocrite': Bernie Sanders slams Elon Musk over stimulus package views

Elon Musk may have millions of admirers the world over but Bernie Sanders is definitely not one of them. If anything, the senator may be a critic and recently called the Tesla CEO a 'hypocrite' for his views on government stimulus package.

Musk last week had fired a tweet in which he wrote that he is against another government stimulus package. "Another government stimulus package is not in the best interests of the people imo," the message read. Another tweet advocated that direct payments should be made to consumers. That many Tesla workers received federal unemployment bonus and stimulus payments meant that many questioned Musk for his opinion.

Sanders was among them.

The senator from Vermont minced no words as he tore into Musk's tweet and views. "What a hypocrite. Elon Musk has received billions in corporate welfare from U.S. taxpayers. Now he wants to stop 30 million Americans who lost jobs from receiving $600 a week in unemployment benefits, while his wealth has gone up by $46.7 billion over the past 4 months. Pathetic," he wrote.

What a hypocrite. Elon Musk has received billions in corporate welfare from U.S. taxpayers. Now he wants to stop 30 million Americans who lost jobs from receiving $600 a week in unemployment benefits, while his wealth has gone up by $46.7 billion over the past 4 months. Pathetic. https://t.co/hECaTul3ZI

— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) July 24, 2020

The entire war of words pertains to plans of possibly coming out with another stimulus package to help the American economy which has been battered by Covid-19 pandemic-related factors. Unemployment has gone up in recent weeks and experts predict more layoffs in the coming weeks as companies look at cutting costs.

The number of positive cases in the US has crossed four million with over 145,000 deaths in the country.

All of this also spells trouble for the working class people, many of whom have either lost jobs or stand at the cusp of losing jobs. Sanders' salvo at Musk's wealth growing in recent times is not off target as Reuters recently reported that the Tesla CEO is close to unlocking a $2.1 billion payout from the company.

As such, Musk's opinions on a stimulus package for workers at large is unlikely to go down too well with people at large, Sanders included.