Speaking during a fiery interview on CNN, former “Squad” Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) smeared Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) head Elon Musk on live TV, accusing the founder and CEO of being both a “Nazi” and a “thief.” Responding on X (formerly Twitter), Mr. Musk vowed to sue Bowman over his libelous lies.
As background, many other Democrats, including some large media figures and politicians, have accused Mr. Musk of allegedly being a “Nazi” over a gesture he made at a pre-inauguration event. So, in smearing Elon as a “Nazi” in much the same way during his Thursday, March 20th interview on CNN, former Rep. Bowman was echoing sentiments the left has been pushing for months.
In any case, former Rep. Bowman’s comments came when he argued with ex-Republican leader of the New York City Council Joe Borelli over whether the protesters at NYC event for Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) were arranged by Democrats there to performatively express outrage for the cameras. Bowman disputed Borelli’s accusations.
Denying those accusations of professional agitation, Bowman snapped at Borelli and then tried to use the matter to attack Mr. Musk and smear him in the ways that might result in a lawsuit. Beginning, Bowman snapped, “That’s not true. And this shows, again, the American people do not trust Elon Musk.”
Continuing, he made his libelous comments about Mr. Musk, calling the DOGE head everything from a “Nazi” to “incompetent.” Bowman claimed, “And Elon Musk is incompetent in his position. And how do we know? Because they fired tens of thousands of people, it was challenged in court. The court said the people have to go back, and now the people are coming back. He’s incompetent, he’s a thief, he’s a Nazi, and people don’t trust him, period.”
Pushing back on Bowman’s initial claim, Rep. Lawler noted that there does appear to be a professional effort to cause chaos at Republican events. Doing so, he said, “Chuck Schumer went on the airwaves. multiple times now, including today, and said, we are organizing to send protesters up to Republican districts here in New York, including mine. And they have been working, the Democratic Party, along with activist organization, including Indivisible, to organize and mobilize voters, both within the district and outside. That is democracy, and that’s fine, but let’s not act like organizing Democrat activists is somehow news.”
Then, as former Rep. Bowman tried to chime back in and dispute that, which led to him trying to shout over Rep. Lawler, CNN host Abby Phillips chimed in and took action to distance herself from Bowman’s slanderous lies. Doing so, she said, “Former Congressman Bowman, I just have to say, just a second, I just have to say, your opinion about Elon Musk is your opinion about Elon Musk.”
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Why she felt the need to do so quickly became clear on X, as Elon commented on the incident. Doing so in response to a video of Bowman spreading lies, Elon posted, “I’ve had enough. Lawsuit inbound.” That came in response to a tweet that included the clip and noted, “Jamaal Bowman just called Elon Musk an ‘incompetent thief’ and ‘Nazi’ on CNN. A lawsuit waiting to happen.”
Watch him here:
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video