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Tesla founder Elon Musk called out former MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan on Wednesday after Hasan suggested that any future Democratic president or presidential candidate should run on a platform of prosecuting him.
"I think the next Democratic president has to be ruthless - not just president, next presidential candidate," Hasan said on Zeteo's weekly "Ask the Editor" series. "The 2028 Democratic primaries have to showcase a group of politicians who are running for office to not just fix things, not just offer a bright new future, not just running on a change platform, but are running on a platform to prosecute and punish the people who broke the law, destroyed our country, destroyed our democratic fabric, destroyed society - I mean, turned people against one another."
He argued that rising concerns about alleged fraud centered on the Somali community in Minnesota were "nonsense," claiming they were driven by social media and its algorithms - and he placed part of the blame on Musk.
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"I said this recently to [former Obama aide] Jon Favreau on Twitter. I said maybe - I'm only half joking when I say this - which is the next Democratic president should run on a plan to prosecute Elon Musk," Hasan said. "That would win - I mean they would easily go to the top of the pack. They would immediately go to the top of the polls in the Democratic race - that the first Democrat comes out and says, 'My first act as president is to prosecute Elon Musk.'"
The clip went viral on social media - partly thanks to Hasan sharing it himself.
Musk, responding to a post sharing the clip, replied, "In their eyes, enabling freedom of speech is high crime."
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Hasan preempted critics by claiming that there was already precedent for politicizing the justice system.
"Now, people will say, 'Oh, you're politicizing.' That ship has sailed, right? That ship has sailed," he said. "The Republicans have no grounds to bring that up. And any Democrat who brings it up - they're living in the wrong world, right? There has to be accountability."
He criticized past presidents who chose to look forward rather than prosecute their predecessors for alleged crimes, declaring that era is over.
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"The Democratic president, if he or she wins in January 2029, is inaugurated, has to come in with a day-one plan for accountability. Has to run on accountability. Has to pledge accountability. Has to put the fear of God into their Republican opponents," Hasan said of future Democratic candidates.
