Carr Goes After Musk's Critics in Weekend Flurry on Social Media
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr mocked singer Sheryl Crow, described former U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg as an expert in incompetence, and called Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., “very shifty” in a series of posts on X during the weekend, apparently defending SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. Crow posted a video on Instagram that showed her Tesla being hauled away, with a caption saying she donated the money to NPR, "which is under threat by President Musk," in protest of recent efforts to defund the broadcaster. Carr reposted the video Saturday and called it an argument for why taxpayers shouldn’t subsidize NPR stations. “Bravo,” said Carr, who has opened an investigation into PBS and NPR underwriting. “Wouldn’t take too many celebrities following Sheryl Crow’s lead and selling their cars to keep NPR going without taxpayer dollars,” he added in a second post.
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Carr also appeared to be defending Musk in several posts attacking Buttigieg. “If we need expertise in incompetence, will reach out,” Carr posted in response to a post from Buttigieg criticizing the efforts of Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency. “No one should be happy that the DOGE team -- the same folks who randomly published classified U.S. security information online today -- wants access to your bank account & Social Security numbers,” Buttigieg posted Friday. In a separate post Monday, Carr wrote: “Mayor Pete spent more time calling bridges racist than fixing problems.”
A post from Schiff on Sunday criticizing Musk’s access to information also drew a response from Carr. “The world’s richest man should not and cannot be able to snoop around your personal finances,” Schiff said. “This is just pure projection by Schiff,” Carr replied, referencing Schiff’s issuing of subpoenas to phone carriers as part of his impeachment investigation of President Donald Trump during Trump’s first term. “Schiff collected the protected & confidential call records of private citizens & government officials alike through a secret, partisan process,” Carr said.