Minnesota Governor and former Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz referred to the world’s richest man and DOGE head Elon Musk as “dip****” during an event in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, on Tuesday night as he rallied his party ahead of a State Supreme Court race.
Shortly before making those comments, Walz had said that he didn’t think name-calling would help, according to The New York Times. But the crowd still made their approval clear when he called Musk a “South African repo baby” with the ability to slash the federal government.
Walz is just one of several Democrats who have referred to Musk’s immigrant background, just as Trump has made attacking immigrants a centerpiece of his agenda. Trump, however, has previously focused his ire on elected officials of color rather than the wealthiest individual in the world.
“Which country is he loyal to? South Africa, Canada, or the United States?” Ohio Rep. Marcy Kaptur said during a press conference last month. Similarly, New York Rep. Nydia Velázquez said during a protest that Musk should “go back to South Africa.” At another protest, Virginia Rep. Don Beyer added, “We’re going to send Elon back to South Africa.”
Born in South Africa in 1971, Musk moved to Canada in 1989 and to the U.S. during his college years. He became a U.S. citizen in 2002, according to Walter Isaacson, his biographer.
Walz was speaking during a town hall event on the first day of early voting for the Wisconsin Supreme Court race. The election, slated for April 1, is between a liberal and a rightwing Trump ally who has received $13 million from Musk. Democrats in the state have used the donations to attack Musk.
Walz has called Musk a “nepo baby,” someone who inherits wealth or status, at least once previously. Musk’s father worked as an engineer and developer in Pretoria.
During an event in Wisconsin, Walz went after Elon Musk in a style similar to President Donald Trump (Getty Images for Vox Media)
Walz also appeared at a town hall event in Des Moines on Friday, where he slammed Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency for recommending cuts to the Veterans Affairs Department.
“There’s nothing conservative about an unelected South African nepo baby firing people at the V.A.,” said Walz.
Trump has often used the idea of his opponents being foreign as a means to insult them, beginning his political journey by questioning President Barack Obama’s place of birth. In his first term, Trump told a group of congresswomen of color, most of whom were born in the U.S., to “go back” to their home countries. Similarly, Trump questioned the ethnic background of Vice President Kamala Harris during the presidential campaign last year. He also frequently mispronounced her name.
While many Democrats were furious at such attacks, some of them now seem to be attempting to make Musk seem like an outsider. During the 2024 election, The Washington Post reported that Musk had worked in the U.S. on a student visa in the 1990s, after which President Joe Biden referred to him as an “illegal worker.”
Musk has denied working illegally in the U.S., and he has slammed illegal immigrants and suggested without evidence that Democrats are using benefits to draw them to the U.S.
A White House chief strategist during Trump’s first term, Stephen Bannon, took aim at Musk last month, calling him a “parasitic illegal immigrant” who doesn’t have “respect for the country’s history, values or traditions.”
