finance
Rep. Khanna Challenges Musk to Debate on Government Cuts After Musk Suggests Legal Action
Rep. Ro Khanna issued a challenge Monday for a televised debate with Elon Musk on spending cuts made under the Department of Government Efficiency. The proposal followed an exchange on X in which Musk suggested Khanna should face legal action. Khanna cited a Lancet study on potential deaths linked to USAID reductions.
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Rep. Ro Khanna challenged Elon Musk to a televised debate on the effects of cuts made during Musk's leadership of the Department of Government Efficiency initiative. Cnbc reported that Khanna made the challenge Monday in an interview.
"I challenge him to a debate ... do it on CNN, do it on CNBC, do it at a university, he can pick the setting and let's debate what happened at DOGE, let's debate why I'm for a wealth tax," Khanna said. The proposal responded to an exchange earlier Monday on X, the platform Musk owns, in which Musk said Khanna should be sued or even jailed.
Khanna had previously stated that Musk needed to answer for potential deaths caused by DOGE's shuttering of USAID. A study published in the Lancet claimed cuts to USAID could cause the deaths of more than 4.5 million children. DOGE, led by Musk, effectively shuttered USAID last year.
Musk did not immediately respond to a request for comment placed via a spokesman. Khanna, who led a successful bid to release the Epstein files, represents one of the nation's most affluent districts. A number of his former Silicon Valley supporters threatened to abandon him earlier this year after he embraced a wealth tax in California.
Khanna noted that Musk had at times been supportive of him, including praise for a book he wrote and his opposition to Twitter censoring a story about Hunter Biden.
