“A single death is a tragedy; a million deaths is a statistic,” says the quote widely misattributed to Joseph Stalin (it is actually thought to come from a 1924 French satirical publication). Either way, though, neither were said in the lawyered-up world of 2020s America – where the world’s first trillionaire is preparing to sue a potential presidential candidate over whether he was responsible for millions of deaths or not.
Elon Musk – for it is he – is threatening to sue Ro Khanna, a California congressman tipped as an outside presidential pick, after he used a podcast appearance to cite a study published in the medical journal the Lancet which claimed cuts to the international development agency USAID under Musk could cause the deaths of more than 4.5 million children.
The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by Musk for its first 130 days, effectively shut down USAID as it attempted to downsize the federal government and root out alleged inefficiencies.
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On the podcast, Khanna said Musk “needs to answer” for the “4.5 million children around the world who he possibly sentenced to death by dismantling USAID”. Musk has now said Khanna should be either sued or jailed.
“Time to sue this liar,” said the newly-minted trillionaire and free speech campaigner on the X platform he owns.
“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,” he added. “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!!”.
No writ yet appears to have been served, although Khanna appears to hope the dispute over just how many people Musk’s aid-slashing operation killed could be sorted in a university lecture hall rather than troubling the courts, challenging the entrepreneur to a televised debate on the subject.
“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,” Khanna suggested to said CNBC on Monday. “We can have a conversation of ideas if he believes in free speech and free expression about these issues.”
Musk has yet to respond. Meanwhile, the publishers of Khanna’s 2012 book Entrepreneurial Nation: Why Manufacturing is Still Key to America’s Future may want to change the blurbs on the back in future editions. The one currently on sale says that “the unconventional ideas in this book chart the path America can take to lead the world for years to come” in a quote attributed to… one Elon Musk.
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