There are plenty of reasons for conservatives to turn out and vote red in the midterm elections. Yet the plans being floated by Democrats and Never Trump figures against President Donald Trump and his team offer another urgent reminder of what is at stake, as reported by Red State.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk is among the people being targeted. Democrat political commentator and professor Robert Reich, one of former President Bill Clinton's labor secretaries, used his podcast, The Coffee Klatch, to propose an extraordinary escalation against Musk.

Reich argued that Democrats needed to "defund Musk." That demand was only the opening act, because he then said Democrats should consider taking control of Musk's companies through nationalization.

Reich said Democrats should be "starting this, not just with Oversight hearings but also laying the groundwork for nationalizing Starlink and SpaceX." He followed that demand with an emphatic declaration: "Nationalize it!"

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Reich suggested the companies should become a public corporation. He insisted, "We should not ever have that kind of power in one person's hands. One private person's hands."

The former Clinton labor secretary also accused Musk of "trying to buy the senator from Texas." Reich asked, "Why should we allow this?" and cohost Heather Lofthouse responded that they should not.

Reich openly acknowledged that Democrats would be targeting Musk and labeled him "exhibit A" of what he described as the "billionaire takeover" of America. He declared, "Musk represents the power of oligarchy in America over democracy."

Reich compared Musk to a "robber baron" and argued that Musk was even worse. He also criticized Musk over the dissolution of USAID, adding another grievance to his sweeping case against the SpaceX CEO.

Robert Reich in 2025: Trump is a fascist dictator for even suggesting that a company be taken over by the government and for telling a CEO what to do.

Robert Reich in 2026: SpaceX and Starlink must be taken over by the government. Small man, giant fraud. https://t.co/JSyL4hysdV — MAZE (@mazemoore) October 26, 2026

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The notion that Democrats should simply grab Musk's companies is not a defense of a free society. It sounds like the sort of socialist or communist confiscation that Americans should reject, not a serious proposal for responsible government.

The government uses Starlink and maintains a relationship with the company because Starlink and SpaceX provide valuable products and services. The government is not required to use those services, but their quality is why it chooses to do so.

Government seizure would also separate the companies from the person credited with driving their innovation and building them into what they have become. That is hardly a convincing formula for improving either operation, regardless of Reich's enthusiasm for nationalization.

Reich's accusation involving the Texas Senate race also leaves out some inconvenient context. Musk contributed to a PAC that helped Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, the GOP Senate nominee, while Reid Hoffman gave millions to a PAC that helped Democrat nominee James Talarico.

Reich did not mention Hoffman's money or contributions from other Democrat billionaires such as George Soros to Democrat candidates. Apparently, in this telling, billionaire influence becomes oligarchic only when the billionaire is helping a Republican.

The attack also ignores Musk's work with the Department of Government Efficiency, known as DOGE, to help the country cut waste and fraud. Musk employs thousands of people, and the source credits him with making thousands of those employees millionaires when he took SpaceX public.

Musk also announced that he would give every child in America a share of SpaceX. That planned donation clashes rather sharply with Reich's attempt to portray Musk solely as the face of an oligarchic takeover.

There is at least one benefit to hearing these proposals before voters head to the polls. Americans get to see the choice between freedom and a political faction openly discussing government control of private companies it dislikes.

Musk responded to Reich's remarks, according to the source, after the commentator laid out his case for targeting the entrepreneur and nationalizing Starlink and SpaceX. Reich's own words already revealed just how far this campaign against Musk could go.

@CollinRugg Stealing companies is a serious crime. Prison for Reich.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 25, 2026

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