A war of words between Democrat Rep. Ro Khanna and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has escalated into Khanna begging Musk for an official debate.
The war erupted Saturday when Khanna, a California Democrat, accused Musk of essentially killing millions of children with his DOGE-inspired dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
Listen:
Ro Khanna: There needs to be accountability for Elon Musk… He needs to answer… He needs to be subpoenaed, he needs to face investigation.
pic.twitter.com/cpN1Sy03rC— Defiant L’s (@DefiantLs) June 21, 2026
“I do believe once we take power, there needs to be accountability,” Khanna said on the “I’ve Had It” podcast hosted by left-wing hatemonger Jennifer Welch. “There needs to be accountability for Elon Musk. You know, they’re celebrating that he created 4,400 millionaires, but they don’t talk about the 4.5 million children around the world who he possibly sentenced to death by dismantling USAID.”
“He needs to answer for that. He needs to be subpoenaed. He needs to face investigation. He needs to answer for what he did with DOGE [Department of Government Efficiency]. It’s not just ‘let’s move on,’” the Democrat added.
Musk didn’t take kindly to this nonsense. First, in response to a New York Post story about Khanna’s call for accountability, Musk said bluntly that it’s “time to sue” him.
Look:
Time to sue this liar
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 22, 2026
In another post, Musk debunked Khanna’s claim about USAID.
“This is a total lie,” he wrote. “All DOGE did was require contact with the aid recipients to confirm that funds were being used legitimately. Anything less than this is insane! Multiple people from USAID have been charged by the Justice Department with stealing money. Moreover, they pled GUILTY!!”
In a third post, he fiercely defended DOGE’s work.
“The standard applied by DOGE was very simple and easy: Provide contact information for the recipients of aid, so that we can confirm it is not fraudulent,” Musk explained. “The reality is that money was being sent to corrupt politicians under the guise of aid! Liars and stock insider traders like Ro the Robber should be in prison!!”
Khanna responded to Musk’s posts by whining and calling for a debate in a post of his own.
Listen:
.@elonmusk let’s debate. You game?
I am for free speech, not lawfare. pic.twitter.com/gThLggxiOW
— Ro Khanna (@RoKhanna) June 22, 2026
“Today, Elon Musk threatened to sue me, and he called on the Justice Department to put me in prison,” Khanna said. “That’s right. The world’s richest person has spent all day tweeting, going after me. Why? Because I cited an academic study that his DOGE cuts may lead to the deaths of millions of children overseas. You know, Elon, I thought you were a free speech guy. Why not debate me on these issues instead of threatening lawfare?”
“You’re not going to be able to intimidate me. I’m the guy who stood up to the Epstein class and worked with [Rep. Thomas] Massie to get the Epstein files released. I’m the guy who stood up against AIPAC and called out a genocide. And I’m the guy who stood up to billionaires in my district who ran someone against me and still called for a wealth tax. So I’m not going to be intimidated or silenced,” he added.
Khanna later doubled down in remarks made to CNBC.
“I challenge him to a debate … do it on CNN, do it on CNBC, do it at a university, he can pick the setting and let’s debate what happened at DOGE, let’s debate why I’m for a wealth tax,” he told the network. “We can have a conversation of ideas if he believes in free speech and free expression about these issues.”
“It’s not pleasant to have the world’s richest person with the biggest platform on X go say you should be in prison and that he’s going to sue you, and then I’m a liar. I’m taking on the richest person in the world, but I mean, I would hope that he would have an actual debate about it,” he added.
Meanwhile, Musk has endorsed a call for “Ro ‘the Robber’ Khanna” to be arrested:
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 22, 2026
