Tech billionaire Elon Musk didn't mince words on Sunday in expressing his support for the Second Amendment.
“The right to bear arms exists to protect freedom of speech and stop dictatorships from taking away those rights! That's why the first thing every dictator does is disarm his people, exactly like when Chavez first got elected. After that there will be no real elections in Venezuela,” Musk posted on his X account on Sunday.
Musk was responding to a clip of an interview he gave on NBC News on Sunday in which Georgia Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock was asked whether Vice President Kamala Harris should support a mandatory gun buyback program.
Buyback programs are government efforts to purchase privately owned firearms to reduce the number of guns in circulation. Harris supported such mandatory programs during her unsuccessful 2020 presidential run, but has since refrained from actively supporting mandatory buyback efforts.
“In your opinion, should she also support a mandatory gun buyback program?” NBC's Kristen Welker asked Warnock, just days after the tragic Georgia school shooting that left four people dead.
“We're not going to get to where we need to be unless we take action in Congress. We have to pass legislation that addresses this issue. I was encouraged that we finally got gun safety legislation passed two years ago, the Safer Communities Act. It was the first gun safety legislation in 30 years. It was modest, but it certainly saved lives. But with what just happened in Winder, Georgia, it's clearly not enough,” Warnock replied.
Elon Musk, co-founder of Tesla and SpaceX and owner of X Holdings, speaks at the Milken Institute Global Conference at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California, May 6, 2024. (Apu Gomez/Getty Images)
Musk describes himself as a “historically moderate Democrat,” endorsed former President Donald Trump for president earlier this year, and has previously pledged his support for the Second Amendment.
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On the fourth day of the Republican National Convention held at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on July 18, 2024, former US President Donald Trump, who formally accepted the Republican presidential nomination, took to the stage with former First Lady Melania Trump after accepting the Republican presidential nomination. (Photo: Andrew Harnick/Getty Images)
“I strongly believe that the right to bear arms is an important defense against government tyranny. Historically, those in power have denied citizens the ability to own guns in order to maintain their power over the people,” Musk told CNBC in 2022.
His recent statements supporting Americans' right to bear arms have drawn praise from conservatives and the 2A community.
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President Trump said last week that he would appoint Musk to head the Government Efficiency Commission if he wins the November election.
“I will establish a Commission on Government Efficiency that will be tasked with conducting a complete fiscal and performance audit of the entire federal government,” Trump said Thursday in a speech to the Economic Club of New York.
The comments come after Musk proposed creating a government efficiency commission during a conversation he hosted with President Trump at X last month.
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After Trump said he would pursue Musk's idea of setting up such a commission if he won the presidential election in November, Musk posted on X, “If given the opportunity, I would love to serve America. No pay, no title, no recognition needed.”
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