The tech billionaire was commenting on the incumbent president’s border policies
Elon Musk has accused US President Joe Biden of “treason” for allowing illegal migrants to flood the country and for selling off the materials allocated for the construction of the US-Mexico border wall.
US President-elect Donald Trump and the Republicans have long criticized Biden for failing to secure the US borders, especially in the south. A new wave of debate over the outgoing administration’s border policies started in mid-December, when the Daily Wire reported on X that Biden was auctioning off materials earmarked for the construction of the US-Mexico border wall, which was begun during Trump’s first term in office and later halted under Biden.
The story sparked a flood of comments online, with many users accusing the Biden administration of violating the law and undermining border security. One user, @EndWokeness, summarized what he saw as Biden’s failures in an X post on Wednesday, calling for “accountability” for the US-Mexico border wall having been sold off “for just $5 a piece,” the razor wire fences and river walls having been removed, and the supposed issuance of “94 executive orders to open the border.”
“This administration did not fail to secure the border. They deliberately opened it. IT WAS TREASON,” the user concluded, to which Musk replied “100% treason” in his own post on Thursday.
Biden’s immigration policy initially focused on reversing many of the regulations passed during Trump’s first administration, including halting the construction of the US-Mexico border wall. However, amid the flood of illegal migrants and mounting criticism of his border policy, Biden later implemented stricter mechanisms. For instance, last June, he issued an order partially suspending asylum requests at the border with Mexico when daily unauthorized crossings reach a threshold of 2,500.
The legal battle over the leftover border wall materials has been going on for years. The Biden administration has argued that the stockpiled steel beams and other supplies were no longer needed for the halted project and that storing them cost the government money. In 2023, Congress agreed with that assessment and ordered the US Department of Defense to “use, transfer, or donate” all “excess construction materials.”
After the legality of this move was questioned, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit to block the further sale of the supplies. On December 27, Paxton’s office secured a temporary injunction that prevented the outgoing administration from further disposing of border wall materials over the next 30 days. The ruling will allow Trump, who will return to the White House on January 20, to decide how the remaining supplies will be used.
Trump welcomed the court ruling, calling it a “major, crucial WIN for America, and our National Security” in a post on his Truth Social platform on Saturday. He slammed “Biden and his cronies” for “wrecking” the wall project, and vowed to continue his push for stronger border security measures by finishing the border wall.
