“So tempting to escalate this. So, so tempting. But I will refrain for now,” says Elon Musk
The US political scene which gained a brand new dimension with the arrival of New York’s Indian origin mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, saw another turn on Tuesday with Mamdani saying that he will not be “intimidated” by US President Donald Trump’s threat of arrest if he stopped Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from doing its work in the city
Mamdani, who is fast becoming a face of American socialism, faced a barrage of criticism following his official confirmation as a Democrat candidate for the city from Republican Trump who called him a “lunatic” and a “communist”. The US president also raised doubts over the legality of the citizenship of Mamdani, who came to the US in 1998 as a seven-year old.
In a statement posted on X, Mamdani said “The President of the United States just threatened to have me arrested, stripped of my citizenship, put in a detention camp and deported. Not because I have broken any law but because I will refuse to let ICE terrorise our city.
“His statements don’t just represent an attack on our democracy but an attempt to send a message to every New Yorker who refuses to hide in the shadow: if you speak up, they will come for you”
He also attacked Trump for praising New York’s current Mayor Eric Adams.
“At the very moment when MAGA (make America great again) Republicans are attempting to destroy the social safety net, kick millions of New Yorkers off of healthcare and enrich their billionaire donors at the expense of working families, it is a scandal that Eric Adams echoes this President’s division, distraction and hate. Voters will resoundingly reject it in November,” he said.
Trump said that the US does not need a “communist in this country but if we have one, I’m going to be watching over him very carefully on behalf of the nation…
“A lot of people are saying he (Mamdani) is here illegally. You know we are going to look over everything.”
Meanwhile, tech billionaire Elon Musk also retaliated against Trump’s veiled threat of deportation with a cryptic post on X, saying “So tempting to escalate this. So, so tempting. But I will refrain for now.”
Born in South Africa, Musk became a naturalised US citizen in 2002.
Following Musk’s fierce criticism of his administration’s ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’, Trump told media persons that he would “take a look” at the possibility of deporting him.
Trump also suggested that his administration might deploy the Department of Government Efficiency (the cost-cutting unit Musk previously led as a special government employee) against him. “We might have to put DOGE on Elon. You know what DOGE is? DOGE is the monster that might have to go back and eat Elon,” Trump said.
The Bill proposing tax breaks and sweeping cuts to healthcare and food programmes received strong criticism from the Democratic Party as also some members of Trump’s Republican Party.
