The Democratic meltdown over Elon Musk becoming a trillionaire after the initial public offering (IPO) of SpaceX was something to see.
We saw the bad reactions from Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and the Democratic nominee for the Senate from Maine, the scandal-plagued Graham Platner. Platner even said that they should make sure that Musk was the last trillionaire. What an example of how they view success as bad, and they want to cut that off for the American people. Not to mention the radical leftist thought that they get to dictate to us what we can make.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) said, "This was not sustainable." It wasn't clear what wasn't "sustainable" in that. He also decried it, saying we needed to "democratize the economy."
READ MORE: Scary Stuff We Should Be Concerned About Beyond Platner's Tattoo
Gavin Newsom and Media Outlet Tag Team for Two Wild Takes on Elon Becoming a Trillionaire
Then Rep. Ro Khanna (CA-17), who has ambitions for the presidential race in 2028 and has been making a (bad) name for himself, excusing and embracing Platner, capped it off, showing just how bad Democrats are on the economy. He repeated his call for an additional 5 percent wealth tax on people making over a billion. What happened was a conversation with a variety of CEOS who know more about growing wealth than a Democrat in government does.
Brad Gerstner, CEO of Altimeter Capital, explained what would have happened if they had grabbed Elon's capital gains from PayPal way back when.
"You are smarter than this Ro. Imagine if Bernie had taxed @elonmusk 100% on his PayPal capital gains. We would have no @Tesla or @SpaceX - none of those jobs or GDP. Who do you think allocated the capital better for society? He will already pay $100 B + in taxes - more than any human ever."
That's when Khanna responded:
Brad, a 5% tax on Elon's trillion net worth would literally pay for free college and trade school for every American.
And with the market's growth, he still would be worth over a trillion dollars!
You don't think that's worth it?
Brad, a 5% tax on Elon's trillion net worth would literally pay for free college and trade school for every American.
— Ro Khanna (@RoKhanna) June 12, 2026
And with the market's growth, he still would be worth over a trillion dollars!
You don't think that's worth it? https://t.co/eGbmrvggDM
This would be out-and-out redistribution, a punishment for success, and the government wants to grab your money for "reasons" that never seem to get done. Plus, Elon has already probably paid more tax than anyone in history. But beyond that, as the Community Note explained, Khanna's math was way off.
5% of $1.2T is $60b. 8m students in BA/BS programs on average pay over $20k/yr, or ~$160b/yr for BA/BS degrees only. That tax could not cover even half of only US bachelor degree costs for just 1 year, excluding grad, ass., or trade degrees totaling another ~10m students.
So not only is it bad policy, he's just wrong. But these are the folks in power who want to make our laws.
CEO and Founder of @DRWTrading and @CumberlandSays, Don Wilson, said he was "highly confident society will derive greater benefit if that capital is in Elon’s hands than in the hands of the government." I think many of us would agree with that.
But Khanna kept digging that hole.
This the basic difference.
— Ro Khanna (@RoKhanna) June 12, 2026
Republicans believe that that if you let the wealthy spend capital it will make Americans prosperous.
Democrats believe that the federal government investing in the healthcare & education of our people will make America prosperous & productive. https://t.co/V4onzaoq51
This the basic difference.
Republicans believe that that if you let the wealthy spend capital it will make Americans prosperous.
Democrats believe that the federal government investing in the healthcare & education of our people will make America prosperous & productive.
Yes, that's the problem.
Republicans believe that letting people keep their own money to spend as they will will produce more prosperity. Elon is a great example of that with everything his companies have created to benefit our world, and the hundreds of thousands of people he employs. Plus, his IPO was predicted to make 4400 current and former employees, just regular workers, millionaires. Talk about "democratizing the economy." When has the government ever done anything like that?
Democrats think that "prosperity" comes from taking more of your money because they know how to spend it for you. I have to laugh at the "investing" part. Meanwhile, we see rampant fraud, such as in Minnesota. Give the government more money and power because that's worked so well — trust us, bro. How has that worked? Government involvement in healthcare and higher education has made everything more expensive.
Khanna doesn't get it, but his comment is a great ad...against the Democrats.
By the way, if he truly believes in a "wealth tax," why doesn't he contribute some of his many millions freely to the "cause"? I suspect we won't be seeing that anytime soon.
