Trump staffer insults 'Pocahontas' when asked about Musk’s 'conflicts of interest'

17 December 2024

Tesla/SpaceX CEO Elon Musk was a major donor to Donald Trump's 2024 campaign, and the president-elect has offered him a position in his second administration.

Trump has proposed a new agency that would be called the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), and he would like Musk to lead it along with MAGA businessman Vivek Ramaswamy.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts), according to Washington Post reporter Michael Scherer, voiced her concerns about Musk, possible conflicts of interest and the incoming second Trump Administration in a letter sent to the president-elect on Monday, December 17 — and staffer Karoline Leavitt "responded by calling her 'Pocahontas.'"

"Pocahontas" is an insult that Trump came up with for Warren in response to her claim to have some Native American ancestry. Trump repeatedly called her "Pocahontas" when she was running for in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary.

In her letter, Warren wrote, "Putting Mr. Musk in a position to influence billions of dollars of government contracts and regulatory enforcement without a stringent conflict of interest agreement in place is an invitation for corruption on a scale not seen in our lifetimes. As your Transition Team Ethics Plan makes clear, the role of government is not to line the pockets of the wealthiest Americans; a strong, enforceable ethics plan for the world’s richest man is a necessary first step for delivering on that promise."

Leavitt, according to Scherer, "did not address Musk’s ethics commitments in her response to the letter."

Leavitt, who Trump has chosen for White House press secretary, responded, "President Trump has assembled the most impressive and qualified team of innovators, entrepreneurs, and geniuses to advise and staff our government. Pocahontas can play political games and send toothless letters, but the Trump-Vance transition will continue to be held to the highest ethical and legal standards possible — a standard unfamiliar to a career politician whose societal impact is 1/1024th of Elon Musk's."

In her letter, Warren wanted to know if Musk plans to "recuse himself from matters affecting Tesla, Space X, X, or any other company he owns or in which he has a substantial investment."

The senator wrote, "Currently, the American public has no way of knowing whether the advice that he is whispering to you in secret is good for the country — or merely good for his own bottom line."

Read the Washington Post's full article at this link (subscription required).

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