According to Politico, Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., has expressed frustration over Elon Musk snubbing Congressional Democrats in hs first tour of the U.S. Capitol as Twitter owner.
"I am deeply concerned with how he’s running that company into the ground," Schiff reportedly said earlier this week after hearing that Musk visited Republican leaders in Congress and no Democrats.
Politico reported Tuesday on Musk’s tour of Capitol Hill and noted several Democratic lawmakers, including Schiff, who were unhappy that the world’s richest man was seemingly playing political favorites.
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Politico claimed, "Elon Musk’s unannounced, whirlwind tour of Capitol Hill last week had a number of high-profile stops: A happy birthday visit to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and a sit-down with GOP firebrand Rep. Jim Jordan, among others. He even met with White House officials to talk electric cars. One thing it didn’t include: Congressional Democrats."
The only Democratic lawmaker Musk reportedly ran into during the tour was House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., and that was by accident. It "was actually an unscheduled run-in, according to Jeffries’ office," the piece noted.
It added that Musk’s "partisan trek through Congress stands in sharp contrast with many of his tech CEO brethren. Other D.C. regulars like Apple CEO Tim Cook purposely make their visits bipartisan."
The outlet also warned that "there are risks to taking sides so brazenly. For one, Democrats still control the Senate, and, of course, the political winds in Washington can turn on a dime, leaving allies on the outs and previously spurned lawmakers in positions of power."
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Upon hearing about this one-sided trip, Schiff blasted Musk and his social media platform. In addition to saying Musk is running Twitter "into the ground," the Democratic Congressman said that the platform under Musk "seems like a vanity project that is going wrong with an explosion of hate speech on that platform."
The outlet reported on other lawmakers criticizing Musk’s relationship with Republicans. Rep. David Cicilline, D-R.I., claimed Musk’s trip is more evidence that "Republican leadership" is going to "protect big tech from any regulation or any effort to restore competition in the digital marketplace."
Additionally, Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., blasted the billionaire for not meeting with Democrats, saying, "I think it's seriously a mistake and I think it would be a good thing to have him come in and explain himself."
Politico added that Schakowsky "wants Musk to testify before her House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Innovation, Data and Commerce."
Politico further commented on Musk’s recent trip, saying, "Accommodating the GOP is in keeping with Musk's current political outlook. He endorsed the GOP ahead of the midterm elections, welcomed former President Donald Trump back to Twitter and obligingly dumped a series of ‘Twitter files’ to make the case that Democrats and previous company executives colluded to restrain speech on the platform."
It added, "In all, Musk has in recent months aligned himself with Republicans in ways that are relatively unusual for a tech billionaire."
