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Rogan, Bernie Sanders, Spar Over Musk’s Spending To Elect Trump

Charlie Kirk Staff

06/25/2025

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Rogan, Bernie Sanders, Spar Over Musk’s Spending To Elect Trump

During an appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience Tuesday, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) criticized Elon Musk for spending $270 million to support President Donald Trump’s election, but Rogan quickly countered by pointing to the substantial donations made to former Vice President Kamala Harris’ failed campaign.

The exchange came during a broader debate over the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, which ruled that political donations are a form of protected speech under the First Amendment. Sanders denounced the ruling, calling it “maybe the worst decision that the Supreme Court has ever made.”

“What it says is you’re a billionaire, you now have the constitutional right because your money is your freedom of expression,” Sanders said. “The result of that decision, let’s take us to where we are today, Elon Musk… he spent $270 million to elect Donald Trump. I think that’s absurd.”

Rogan then asked what the largest donation to the Harris campaign was. Sanders didn’t give a sum but said the campaign spent “a lot of money.”

“They spent $1.5 billion just in the course of a couple months,” Rogan said. 

The Harris campaign raised $1.5 billion over the course of just 15 weeks, ultimately ending the race $20 million in debt. Tesla CEO Elon Musk formally endorsed Donald Trump following the former president’s survival of an assassination attempt at his rally in Butler, Pa.

Musk then fully entered the political fray, contributing $240 million to a pro-Trump super PAC known as America PAC. At rallies he hosted, Musk also gave out $1 million checks to attendees who signed a petition backed by the PAC, while spending millions more on other pro-Trump initiatives.

Sanders argued that, in return, Musk became the “most powerful person in government” once Trump assumed office.

Sanders, a longtime critic of big money in politics, emphasized that both major parties depend on billionaire donors and made clear that his criticism extends beyond just Republicans and Elon Musk.

“You’re not going to hear me defending [the] Democratic Party on this issue… During the election it wasn’t just Musk and the Republicans putting a lot of money into Trump, it was Democratic billionaires putting money into Kamala and other candidates as well,” Sanders said. 

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Charlie Kirk is the Founder and President of Turning Point USA, a national student movement dedicated to empowering young people to promote the principles of free markets and limited government.

Charlie is also the host of “The Charlie Kirk Show” podcast, which regularly ranks among the top-10 news shows on Apple podcast news charts, and is the host of the nationally syndicated daily radio show on the Salem Radio Network live from 12 - 3 PM ET.
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