Republican Rep. Mike Lawler of New York was accused by his former colleague in the House of Representatives, Jamaal Bowman, of not criticizing Elon Musk because the billionaire has been a “major donor” to Lawler’s campaigns.
“Elon [Musk] is trying to be the first trillionaire, and he wants to be an oligarch that not just controls American governments; he wants to control world governments,” Bowman, a former Democratic representative from New York, said while he sat next to Lawler on CNN’s “NewsNight” Thursday evening. “And Congressman Lawler is not going to criticize him because Elon Musk is a major donor to Congressman Lawler’s reelection campaigns, and that’s the problem. We don’t have Republicans in Congress—”
“Is that true, Congressman Lawler?” host Abby Phillip interjected to ask the Republican.
“Yes, it is very true,” Bowman said.
“Is he a major donor to your campaigns?” Phillip asked Lawler.
“Not directly,” Lawler replied. “No, not directly to my campaign. He had an independent expenditure that he spent on dozens of congressional races.”
“Second-biggest recipient of the money after Donald Trump,” Bowman added.
