U.S. President Donald Trump, in an interview with NBC News on Saturday, said there would be “serious consequences” if billionaire Elon Musk funds Democratic Party candidates to run against Republicans who vote for Trump’s sweeping tax-cut bill.
Trump declined to say what those consequences would be in the phone interview, and went on to add that he had not had discussions about whether to investigate Musk.
Asked if he thought his relationship with the Tesla and SpaceX CEO was over, Trump said, “I would assume so, yeah.”
And, since the Supreme Court has ruled money = speech with the Citizens United ruling, Trump has just set Elon up for a First Amendment case if anything happens. One that the taxpayer will likely foot the bill to defend.
Threatening action as a government official is taking an action. Under the rules of CU, he has standing. Then again, the Roberts court doesn’t care about stare decisis or the letter of the law or the spirit of the law, just what can keep the grift flowing.