And as much as people say, well, Elon is a billionaire billionaire outsider. First, I don't mind that they're billionaires. I like people that are successful. I like the fact that he's in a way, he's so rich, he's so removed from the potential financial influence of it. What? All right. Well, yesterday, Chris Sununu, the outgoing governor of New Hampshire, [00:00:19] stated that Elon Musk is just too rich to have any conflicts of interest between his many businesses and his newfound role in advising Donald Trump and the government. So, look, we'll explain why Sununu is a bit dululu in a minute. [00:00:37] But first, we're going to show you Sununu's full statement in full context about why he's not worried about Elon Musk having such close ties and connections and influence to president elect Donald Trump. [00:00:52] - Let's take a. - Look. As much as people say, well, Elon is a billionaire, billionaire outsider. First, I don't mind that they're billionaires. I like people that are successful. What is the difference whether they're a billionaire or broke? I'd rather have someone successful, and I like that. It's an outsider and an engineer and not a politician, and not looking for anything out of the game. [00:01:08] That much of an outsider. In fact, one of the criticisms and the concerns is that he has billions of dollars tied up in government contracts. You don't see a conflict of interest here. Everyone has a conflict of interest, but that's. Like a pretty big one. The guy's worth 450 billion as of, you know, today, in this month. [00:01:26] So I don't think he's doing it for the money. He's doing it for the bigger project and the bigger vision of America. He doesn't need the dollars. He really doesn't. So it's not about, oh, if I get involved in this, I'll get another little contract here or there. That's that's nothing to him. So I like the fact that he's in a way, he's so rich, he's so removed from [00:01:45] the potential financial influence of it. So there's this saying in Armenian, it's not really a saying, but it's like a thing that you hear from Armenians. It's, it's hk gusta. That means their eye is full, meaning like they're good. [00:02:00] They don't need more. They're not looking for more. They're satisfied when it comes to the billionaire class. They're never satisfied. Okay? It's part of the reason why they're billionaires. Okay? And so it might not necessarily be about the money, but it might be about [00:02:16] the genital measuring contest. Right. Like, it's there's more to it than oh, he's rich enough. So the conflicts of interest don't matter. No, no, the conflicts of interest always matter. And to have someone that close to the president elect advising him on what [00:02:35] to cut in government funding, right, and what to increase in government funding, is concerning when he could very easily persuade him to increase government grants for his own businesses and his own companies. That is a legitimate concern. Yeah. So, a couple of comments here, starting with what you were talking about. [00:02:53] And this whole idea that he's too rich to care about money is hilarious. Hilarious. So the number one thing that, and I was just having a conversation with somebody about this, about the I'm not talking about the top 10% or even top 1%, but the guys on like the Forbes 400 list. [00:03:08] The number one thing that they're obsessed with is where they rank on the list. 100%. So it's not about like, oh my God, if I get a little bit more money, I could eat at any restaurant I like. No, they're all way, way, way past that. Right. So to them it's all about ego and oh, I gotta have more. [00:03:25] I gotta have more. I gotta be number one. So it's never enough. Elon Musk is always worried about Jeff Bezos. That's so true. And also his shareholders. And and this. And how do you think he got that money. You think he got it by not caring about money. [00:03:42] Okay. No. He got it by cutting corners and getting government subsidies and firing 75% of his workers because he's obsessed with money. Right. And this is a comical thing that people in the establishment say to protect their donors. [00:03:57] Oh, don't worry, our donors are so rich. That's why they're unbiased. Hilarious, by the way. MAGA makes that same mistake about Donald Trump. Yeah. They say, oh, he's so rich he doesn't care about money. Ha ha ha ha. Okay, anyways, so the second thing is about outsider. [00:04:12] He said, oh, Elon Musk is an outsider. No, he wasn't part of the regular establishment. But is he an outsider in the way that we think of like Bernie Sanders or, you know, some folks on the right, right. Not Trump, because Trump is in the same category [00:04:29] as Elon Musk, which is vague, right? But Steve Bannon is kind of an outsider as much as we loathe him. He's definitely an outsider. Yeah. And so whereas Trump and Elon are in this category of no, they're super rich. They're and they have the same interests as rich people do. [00:04:45] They have the same interests as corporate rule. They want the same things as corporate rule. And what do they do? What did Trump do? Corporate tax cuts. Tax cuts for the rich and did almost none of the things that he promised MAGA in his first term. Now he sides with Elon again. So it's a misdirection. [00:05:01] Elon and Trump in that sense are not the outsiders. Sununus talking about he's trying to give them the veneer of like, oh, they're radical and they're just holding people's feet to the fire and they're being honest. No, no, he's an insider. The richest man in the world who cares about making way more money for himself. [00:05:20] And any child would know that, right? And by the way, I mean, Chris Sununu told on himself a little bit there, because when Dana Bash made clear that there are some serious conflicts of interest with Elon Musk, he's like, well, I mean, everybody's got conflicts of interest. Oh do they? What are your conflicts of interests? [00:05:37] Like oh, yeah. And all of his donors have conflicts of interest. ET cetera. And he thinks that's a normal course of action. So look, guys, here's what's super interesting. Dana Bash, good questions there. And you've seen me criticize her vociferously before. Right. So interestingly, Dana Bash, Steve Bannon and me [00:05:55] are on the same side of this, which is no, Elon Musk definitely has conflicts of interest and you should be really concerned about them as you would be with any donor. George Soros. Corporations, unions. But certainly at least unions stand up for the average guy and the and labor. [00:06:12] Right. But Elon Musk stands up for himself. So it's strange bedfellows everywhere you look. And Chris Sununu, who you say hate Donald Trump now in the same team as Donald Trump. Elon Musk. - Yeah, as. - Long as they're doing corporate favors. That's that's the interesting part about this, right. [00:06:28] Because think about it. With the whole H-1b visa debate, Elon Musk wants to protect the program and increase the cap to bring in more, you know, high skilled foreign workers that benefits corporations. So it doesn't surprise me that you have all these corporate politicians [00:06:46] supporting Elon Musk. And remember, Elon Musk was also a big money donor to Donald Trump's campaign. And Donald Trump has now come out in defense of Elon Musk and his position on H-1b visas. Trump says he's in favor of the program. And, you know, Elizabeth Warren had written a letter to Donald Trump [00:07:05] asking him to resolve Elon Musk's conflicts of interest. And here's what she wrote. Musk's automobile. Musk's automobile company, Tesla, has obtained nearly $42 million in government contracts to provide electric vehicles and services to the government. [00:07:20] The government indirectly subsidizes the company and its competitors via $7,500 federal tax credit for EVs. Further, she writes that SpaceX X, Musk's rocket company, has received nearly $20 billion in government contracts to provide crucial rocket launches. [00:07:38] The company provides critical Department of Defense support in Ukraine and around the globe via its satellite based internet service, Starshield, the military version of Starlink. And so if you have the president's ears, you or ear, you are more likely to ensure [00:07:57] that that gravy train from the federal government keeps on going. Yeah. So there's two different categories there. Government contracts and government subsidies. You know, if he's getting the same subsidies as everyone in renewable energy. Okay, I get it right. [00:08:12] In terms of government contracts, some of his companies do great. Let's be honest. Spacex was used to bring back some pilots from Boeing because Boeing screwed up their space mission as well as every other mission so badly. Yeah, right. [00:08:27] So now that should, like we should be fair no matter what. Just because Elon's a donor to Trump, I wouldn't say, oh, pull all of a SpaceX's contracts. That's crazy. Are they doing a better job or a worse job? Right. If they're doing a better job, no problem with having that contract. But should we be careful? Of course. [00:08:44] And were these same reporters careful back when the establishment was in charge? We'll have a perfect example. How about Halliburton when they got no bid? Contract after no bid contract for billions upon billions of dollars? And who gave them those no bid contracts? Dick Cheney, their former CEO, when he was vice president. [00:09:02] And what did they give him right before he gave him those no bid contracts? They gave him a $34 million golden parachute exit package. So that was open bribery. It was one of the worst pieces of corruption I have ever seen in American politics and mainstream media. [00:09:18] Barely covered it, never mentioned it, never brought it up. Because as long as the establishment is robbing you, they're super happy about it because that's their beloved corruption. But now that this is happening, all of a sudden they're a little wary. And that's interesting too. [00:09:34] Thanks for watching The Young Turks really appreciate it. Another way to show support is through YouTube memberships. You'll get to interact with us more. There's live chat emojis, badges. 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