Republican New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu is facing sharp criticism after suggesting that Elon Musk is too rich to be affected by possible conflicts of interest.
Sununu appeared on CNN’s State of the Union Sunday when he was asked if Musk has any conflicts of interest being the owner of companies such as SpaceX which have held government contracts worth billions while also heading an outside commission charged with leading efforts to cut government spending.
“I like the fact that he’s, in a way, so rich [that] he’s removed from the potential financial influence,” Sununu claimed.
Musk, who also leads the electric car maker Tesla, spent about a quarter of a billion dollars of his fortune, estimated to be about $430 billion, to help Trump win the White House.
“I don’t think he’s doing it for the money,” Sununu added. “He’s doing it for the bigger project and the bigger vision of America. He doesn’t need the dollars.”
Sununu immediately faced a deluge of criticism for his comments.
In a column for MSNBC, author and producer Steve Benen wrote: “Let me see if I have this straight … Americans shouldn’t be overly concerned about the president-elect empowering a billionaire GOP megadonor with power and influence, a businessman with extensive private-sector interests here and abroad, and we should be indifferent to the potential for the megadonor’s conflicts of interest?”
He added: “Why? Because, according to Sununu, … the world’s wealthiest person isn’t overly concerned about making money?”
Sununu, who was trashed by Trump for backing former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley during the Republican primary, called Trump “f****** crazy” in 2022 during a Washington roast.
New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu introduces Republican presidential hopeful and former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley before she speaks at a campaign event in Franklin, New Hampshire on January 22, 2024. Sununu is facing criticism for his comments about the wealth of Elon Musk (AFP via Getty Images)
Benen argued that Sununu had “tried and failed to defend Trump describing Americans he disagrees with as ‘the enemy within’” and to “defend Trump amid reports that he said in private that he wished he had military generals like the ones who served Adolf Hitler.”
“Sununu found himself in the unenviable role of trying to defend the indefensible in order to bolster the man who had spent the year mocking and scolding him,” he added.
George W Bush White House Ethics lawyer Richard Painter wrote on X: “Is this the new normal? Billionaires are too rich to have conflicts of interest. Bull.”
Democratic New Hampshire State Representative David Meuse also took to X to slam Sununu.
“According to @GovChrisSununu, if you happen to be the world’s wealthiest biological organism, your motives can no longer be questioned — even if you donated $277 million in campaign contributions to Trump and other GOP pols to secure your seat at the table,” he said.
Meanwhile, Republican strategist Jeff Timmer wrote that the governor “has learned that once you jettison all honor and integrity by digging a hole of relativism you might as well keep digging.”
