Former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) took aim at tech billionaire Elon Musk, questioning his citizenship while defending the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) against attacks linked to the Trump administration’s efforts to weaken the agency.
A user on social media platform X pointed out that Cheney, who once worked for USAID, had essentially “spawned” from the agency. Cheney became one of President Trump’s biggest critics after she served on the House committee investigating the January 6, 2021, Capitol attack.
Musk replied to the post with a simple “interesting.”
Cheney fired back, questioning Musk’s American identity.
“Damn right, @Elon. I’m proud of what America did to win the Cold War, defeat Soviet communism, and defend democracy,” Cheney wrote on X. “Our nation stood for freedom. You may be unfamiliar with that part of our history since you weren’t yet an American citizen.”
Musk, born in 1971 in Pretoria, South Africa, became a U.S. citizen after arriving in 1995 for graduate studies at Stanford University. However, he never took courses, instead focusing on his start-up companies, including SpaceX and Tesla. Musk has also advocated for the U.S. guest worker visa program, which allowed him to enter the country. The fact that he never enrolled in classes has made some question the validity of his citizenship.
Musk is now under intense scrutiny, especially from Democrats, as his “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) investigates federal agency spending.
Recently, USAID has been severely limited, and foreign aid has been frozen. DOGE officials have also gained access to the Treasury Department’s federal payment system, sparking a lawsuit.
