Elon Musk and MAGA podcaster Steve Bannon renewed their long-running hostilities on Friday as they each warned the other of dire legal consequences.
Bannon said Musk ― a naturalized U.S. citizen ― “should be deported,” while Musk predicted that Bannon ― who served a four-month sentence for contempt of Congress ― could be heading back to prison for a longer term.
Bannon on his “War Room” podcast slammed Musk for saying he would start a new political party, the America Party.
“A non-American starting an America Party?” Bannon said. “No, brother, you’re not an American, you’re a South African. And if we take enough time and prove the facts of that, you should be deported because of the crime of which you did, among many.”
Bannon had last month suggested that Musk, who was born in South Africa, “may be here illegally.”
“The fat, drunken slob called Bannon will go back to prison and this time for a long time,” Musk predicted. “He has a lifetime of crime to pay for.”
He didn’t specify what exactly could send the podcaster and political operative back to prison, but he made a similar prediction earlier this week.
Musk spent roughly $291 million during the 2024 election cycle, most notably to help Trump, according to OpenSecrets.org, until the two had a falling out over the president’s “big beautiful bill.”
Musk had said he would form his new party as an alternative to both Republicans and Democrats if the bill passed, which it did.
Bannon was chief executive of Trump’s 2016 campaign and served as chief strategist early in Trump’s first administration. He was out after seven months.
Trump later turned on Bannon, calling him “Sloppy Steve.”
The two patched things up soon after, and Bannon has stayed close, reportedly meeting with Trump at the White House just last month and frequently talking up Trump and MAGA agenda on his “War Room” podcast.
Trump gave Bannon a pardon in 2021 in a fraud case where Bannon and others allegedly scammed donors who contributed to a private fund supposedly dedicated to building a wall at the southern border.
He pleaded guilty to state charges in a related case earlier this year in a deal that will allow him to avoid prison.
Musk, however, implied that more legal trouble may be heading Bannon’s way.
