Throughout his time in the Senate, progressive Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont has called for expanded taxes on the super wealthy, and has vocally supported a marginal billionaire tax to fund social programs for America's poor and working class.
Sanders has also called for a revitalized capital gains tax, which would tax investments as they accrue gains, rather than when they're sold.
These policies don't sit well with tech magnate Elon Musk, the richest man in the world with a net worth of more than $270 billion, more than five million times the average American's income.
Recently, Sanders once again called for the wealthy to begin paying their fair share.
We must demand that the extremely wealthy pay their fair share. Period.— Bernie Sanders (@Bernie Sanders) 1636826977
Musk responded by telling Sanders he forgot the Senator was still alive.
I keep forgetting that you're still alive
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 14, 2021
Musk, who recently acknowledged that the only way for him to personally pay taxes is to sell stock (thanks to the current capital gains tax rules), offered to sell more Tesla stock in order to pay taxes on it.
Want me to sell more stock, Bernie? Just say the word …
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 14, 2021
Musk's attempts at trolling were met with widespread derision.
One of the most vile tweets in the history of this bird site.https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1459891238384115722\u00a0\u2026— Peter Daou (@Peter Daou) 1636921882
Senator Bernard Sanders is very much alive \u2014 and so is the progressive movement.\n\nAll the publicity stunts in the world won\u2019t stop us from coming to tax you.https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1459891238384115722\u00a0\u2026— Nina Turner (@Nina Turner) 1636912395
This is a horrible thing to say to anyone, but to say it to an elder statesman is reprehensible.https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1459891238384115722\u00a0\u2026— Cynthia Nixon (@Cynthia Nixon) 1636919942
Elon, you have enough money to make every single person that works for you a millionaire and yet you just continue to be an asshole.https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1459891238384115722\u00a0\u2026— \ud83d\ude37\ud83d\udc89 Valerie Bertinelli (@\ud83d\ude37\ud83d\udc89 Valerie Bertinelli) 1636930038
Billionaires to their workers, when workers ask for fair pay and safe working conditions :https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1459891238384115722\u00a0\u2026— Sumedh (@Sumedh) 1636922510
I keep forgetting that you pretend you hate socialism and insist you believe in free market capitalism https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1459891238384115722\u00a0\u2026pic.twitter.com/P4AvuKA6cm— David Sirota (@David Sirota) 1636915286
Musk's offer to sell stock, instead of supporting legislation requiring billionaires to pay greater proportions of their income in taxes, was deemed woefully insufficient.
This little brat has quite the ego, doesn't he?https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1459904966194253824\u00a0\u2026— Piyush Mittal (@Piyush Mittal) 1636914304
No. Dumbass. We just want you to pay your taxes.https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1459904966194253824\u00a0\u2026— kelsie loo \u30c3 (@kelsie loo \u30c3) 1636992354
How about you pay your taxes like any single American citizen does? Is that too much to ask??#PayYourFairSharehttps://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1459904966194253824\u00a0\u2026— MyLittleBirdSays (@MyLittleBirdSays) 1636912934
Sanders has yet to dignify Musk's trolling with a response.
