Politics- Steve Bannon accused Elon Musk of having "paymasters" in Beijing.
- This isn't the first time Bannon has accused Musk of having links to the Chinese Communist Party.
Far-right shock jock Steve Bannon, who has ties to an indicted Chinese billionaire, accused Elon Musk of being a toady to the Chinese government.
Bannon, who served as a strategist for then-President Donald Trump, on Saturday took to the right-wing social media platform Gettr to post about Musk.
"Musk Heads to Home Office to Kowtow to His Paymasters The CCP," Bannon wrote on Gettr, referencing a Bloomberg article about Musk's plans to visit China.
In another Gettr post three hours later, Bannon again slammed Musk, this time commenting on Musk's role as the CEO of Twitter.
"Musk Lies Almost as Frequently as He Breathes….He Overpaid by 2x for The Crime Scene Known as Twitter …Now His Paymasters in Beijing Demand He Screws Everyone to Get Their Money Back…." Bannon wrote.
This isn't the first time Bannon has — without substantiation or evidence — accused Musk of serving the Chinese government.
In March, Bannon claimed during an episode of the TimCast IRL podcast that Musk is "a total and complete phony" who is "owned – lock, stock, and barrel – by the Chinese Communist Party." A clip from the podcast was posted to Twitter by Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz.
"I used to think Bannon was smart & evil, but now I realize I was wrong about the first part," Musk tweeted in response.
—Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 11, 2023
Elon Musk's ties with China
Musk has spared no effort to create business ties with China. On Sunday, he announced that he intends to build a new Tesla battery factory in Shanghai, near the company's existing vehicle factory.
Musk has also been known to express his admiration for the Chinese government.
On the Communist Party's centenary in July 2021, Musk tweeted praise of the Party, writing: "The economic prosperity that China has achieved is truly amazing, especially in infrastructure! I encourage people to visit and see for themselves."
"China rocks, in my opinion. The energy in China is great," Musk said during a podcast in July 2020. "When you've been winning for too long you sort of take things for granted. The United States, and especially like California and New York, you've been winning for too long."
And people on Chinese social media like Musk, too. In November 2021, people on Weibo, China's Twitter-like platform, suggested that Musk's philosophies are so in line with the Chinese government's that he might as well be given membership to the Chinese Communist Party.
Steve Bannon has been linked to China, too
Meanwhile, Bannon has long been associated with the indicted Chinese billionaire, Miles Guo Wengui.
In August 2020, Bannon was arrested on Guo's yacht and charged with crimes including money laundering offenses linked to the "We Build the Wall" fundraising campaign. Bannon was later pardoned by Trump.
Guo had close ties to the CCP before fleeing the country in 2014. Bannon once dubbed Guo the "Donald Trump of Beijing" and the "George Washington of the new China," the New Yorker reported.
Guo — now a critic of the Chinese government — was arrested in March and accused by the Justice Department of running a billion-dollar fraud scheme. Guo pleaded not guilty to the charges and remains in detention, per The New York Times.
Musk and representatives for Bannon did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment sent outside regular business hours.