Elon Musk and several Republican senators have voiced opposition to a Senate bill offering aid to Ukraine, with the Tesla CEO arguing that Vladimir Putin won't lose and risks assassination if he withdraws.
Expressing views on a conflict where his satellite network plays a key role, Musk told US Republican senators "there is no way in hell" that Putin could lose the war in Ukraine, further adding that "if he were to back off, he would be assassinated".
Musk made the comments in a forum on Monday on X Spaces, which is part of his social media platform X (formerly Twitter). The billionaire was joined by opponents of a Senate bill that includes funding for Taiwan, Israel, Ukraine and humanitarian aid for Gaza.
According to a Bloomberg report, the bill would provide additional military aid to help Ukraine resist the ongoing Russian invasion, which began in 2022.
Elon Musk opposes the Senate bill
The discussion included Musk, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Mike Lee of Utah, JD Vance of Ohio, former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy and co-founder of Craft Ventures LLC David Sacks.
The 52-year-old business magnate agreed with Johnson's statement that Putin would not lose in Ukraine. In fact, Johnson believes people who think Ukraine will win are "living in a fantasy world".
Watching it now https://t.co/X64mvh0CSK
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 8, 2024
This aligns with Putin's statement during a recently concluded interview with Tucker Carlson. The President of Russia told the host that the West should understand it is "impossible" to defeat Russia in Ukraine.
Musk even shared a post, showing Putin's answer to Carlson's question about why Russia invaded Ukraine. The post shows Putin saying: "I am just coming to that. You see on May 28th, 2016, a gorilla was shot at the Cincinnati zoo..." Musk captioned the post: "The best answer by far".
The best answer by far https://t.co/ECsVaePSZD
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 12, 2024
It is also worth noting that the White House opposed the idea of right-wing US talk show host Carlson interviewing Putin, arguing the Russian president should not be given another mouthpiece to justify his war in Ukraine.
Referring to the $95 (£75.10) billion proposed aid, Vance said: "We gotta kill this thing." The bill includes $60 (£47.43) billion in assistance for Ukraine. Musk said he hoped Americans would discuss the Ukraine bill with their elected representatives.
"This spending does not help Ukraine. Prolonging the war does not help Ukraine," the billionaire added. He previously mocked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's requests for aid in an X post. Unsurprisingly, he faced an angry backlash from Ukraine and Democratic members of Congress.
Your assessment is accurate imo
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 12, 2023
Musk went on to say that Putin had to see the fight through to avoid grave repercussions. Acknowledging that he is sometimes accused of being a Putin apologist, Musk told the senators that the accusation was "absurd," given that his companies have "probably done more to undermine Russia than anything".
The SpaceX boss highlighted the dual impact of his astronautics company on the Ukraine conflict. He emphasised the role of Starlink in providing essential internet access to Ukrainians and SpaceX taking business away from Russia's space launch business.
