South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, an outspoken Republican ally of President Donald Trump, is wading into the public war of words between Trump and tech billionaire Elon Musk, defending the president and his “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” amid an escalating verbal brawl with Musk and other GOP critics of Trump’s massive legislative budget package.
Scott claimed in an interview on Fox News that the president has always been on the side of poor Americans and he urged Trump to stay the course.
“President Trump, continue to do what you have been doing,” Scott said
“You’ve been a strong powerful voice, consistently speaking on behalf of the most economically challenged people in the country. It’s that coalition that has made us a very strong party,” he said.
And he offered some advice for the angry Musk, who isn’t backing off his attacks on Trump, continuing to bash him on social media.
“Elon Musk you’ve brought cuts to the table, let’s get back to work, focus on the American people, and we’ll get the job done,” Scott advised.
Scott’s entry into the growing divide between Trump and Musk was not met with praise. Many on X criticized Scott for being an unwavering ally of the president while seemingly receiving little in return for his loyalty.
Trump recently gutted the Minority Business Development Agency — a signature initiative Scott long championed — and the senator said nothing. The office, once central to Scott’s efforts to boost minority entrepreneurs, lost all its staff under Trump’s budget cuts without so much as a word of protest from the South Carolina lawmaker.
One user wrote, “Scott’s got the audacity to call Trump a champion of the poor? Trump’s “strong voice” is really just billionaire speak disguised as populism—a con artist who’s been selling snake oil to the struggling. Scott must be drunk on the Kool-Aid or just desperate for a paycheck.”
Musk’s anger at Trump over his “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” started spilling into public view after an interview Musk did with CBS News last week where he said he was “disappointed” at the high cost of the legislation.
“I was disappointed to see the massive spending bill, frankly, which increases the budget deficit, not just decreases it, and undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing,” Musk said.
“I think a bill can be big or it can be beautiful, but I don’t know if it can be both. My personal opinion,” he said.
Musk spent months earlier this year launching the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, in which he slashed and burned his way through longstanding government agencies, firing federal workers and cutting billions in government spending.
Trump said he was “very disappointed” by Musk’s angry social media posts aimed at Trump and the legislation while speaking to reporters Thursday afternoon, according to Fox.
Trump said Musk has seen the bill and knew what was in it and “had no problem with it” until the incentives to buy electric vehicles were cut.
“I’m very disappointed because Elon knew the inner workings of this bill better than almost anybody sitting here, better than you people. He knew everything about it.,” Trump said.
“All of a sudden, he had a problem. And he only developed the problem when he found out that we’re going to have to cut the EV mandate.”
Musk is the CEO of EV maker Tesla. After Trump won the 2024 presidential election with a mammoth influx of cash from Musk, Tesla stock gained 14 percent or about $110 billion. After the angry feud between Trump and Musk escalated this week, Telsa stock cratered 14-percent Thursday. Slate reported that Tesla was worth $1 trillion on Wednesday but only $892 billion by Thursday.
Trump continues to insist his huge bill is great for the country.
“I don’t mind Elon turning against me, but he should have done so months ago. This is one of the Greatest Bills ever presented to Congress. It’s a Record Cut in Expenses, $1.6 Trillion Dollars, and the Biggest Tax Cut ever given,” he said on his Truth Social platform Thursday.
The massive measure is now under debate in the Senate. The House passed it just before Memorial Day. The Congressional Budget Office just released an estimate showing the legislation, which extends Trump’s 2017 tax cuts and makes massive cuts to Medicaid and food assistance programs, among many other provisions, would add $2.4 trillion dollars to the national deficit over 10 years.
