Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk attempted to instigate an argument with Bernie Sanders about tax policy over the weekend on Twitter but did not receive a response from the Vermont senator, according to CNBC.
''We must demand that the extremely wealthy pay their fair share. Period,'' Sanders, I-Vt., wrote in a tweet on Saturday.
Musk replied to Sanders the next day with ''I keep forgetting that you’re still alive.''
The Tesla CEO continued:
''Want me to sell more stock, Bernie? Just say the word.''
And finally:
''Bernie is a taker, not a maker.''
Musk attempted to engage Sanders once again on Monday. He asked:
''Ok, how much do you think is fair? Does 53% seem reasonable?''
When the Vermont senator did not reply to him, Musk continued to discuss his tax policy preferences with his followers. In the exchanges, he revealed that he would support an estate tax and taxation on what he called ''extravagant consumption.''
Sanders is a proponent of raising taxes, including a 3% wealth tax on billionaires he proposed in March with Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., per CNBC.
Musk, who currently has the highest net worth in the world, is staunchly against the wealth tax.
''Forget it. My plan is to use the money to get humanity to Mars and preserve the light of consciousness,'' Musk said against the billionaires' tax, according to The Associated Press.
Musk, who had an actual taxable income of $1.52 billion during a five-year period, paid no federal income taxes in 2018, according to ProPublica.
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