Newsom: Elon Musk ‘Knows What He’s Doing,’ ‘The Making of the Next Level of American Oligarchy’

PSAKI: “Elon Musk is one of the tech leaders who is overseeing a platform where fact-checking is not a priority anymore. He’s also pushing forward some of this disinformation through his own 200 million followers. He’s not an elected official. He spent most of his adult life in California, a state that’s suffering right now. How damaging is that?”
Newsom: “Full disclosure, I’ve known Elon for 20 years.”
PSAKI: “Yeah.”
Newsom: “I have been a huge supporter of Elon Musk, and I have great pride in his entrepreneurial spirit and the investments, next-level investments he’s made in California. I don’t know what happened. I don’t. You know, and it’s become increasingly concerning and impactful. And you framed it extraordinarily well. And what he’s attempting to do or currently doing is something that needs to be watched very closely by the American people. And it’s a very, as I say, sobering and serious moment. And it’s bigger than Donald Trump, as well. Elon knows what he’s doing, and he knows how to do it. And — “
PSAKI: “You think he knows he’s pushing inaccurate information?”
Newsom: “I don’t think.”
PSAKI: “You know?”
Newsom: “Come on.”
PSAKI: “Why is he doing it then?”
Newsom: “There’s — you know, I’ll leave that to more objective minds. But it’s — you know, I’ve a lot of mutual friends and a lot of folks that don’t know what the hell has happened either, and a lot of folks that are part of that train. And that’s a hell of a train to be on. And you watch that space, watch it, watch what gets carved out in these reforms, watch who gets what. This is the making of the next level of American oligarchy. American oligarchy. If you wanted to suggest we don’t have it already, this will take it to a whole another level. Watch this space. So, I — I’m focused on the recovery. I’m focusing on lifting up the hearts and minds of this community. This morning they said, ‘We feel helpless, governor, but we’re not hopeless.’ That’s the spirit to which I’d rather focus my attention.”