Elon Musk Vows to Sue Rep Ro Khanna: ‘Robber Khanna Should Be In Prison’

In a sharp escalation of their long-running online feud, Elon Musk publicly declared “Time to sue this liar” after Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Fremont) accused the tech billionaire and former DOGE co-leader of “possibly sentencing to death” 4.5 million children through cuts to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). 

Musk’s response came swiftly on X on Monday, citing a New York Post report detailing Khanna’s remarks on the “I’ve Had It” podcast, co-hosted by the Left’s latest ray of sunshine, Jennifer Welch. The congressman had called for Musk to be subpoenaed and investigated once Democrats regain congressional power, framing DOGE’s efficiency reforms as a humanitarian catastrophe.

Khanna referenced a widely-discredited 2025 Lancet study projecting millions of deaths by 2030 from deep foreign aid reductions, including 4.5 million children under five. He contrasted this with Musk’s role in creating wealth through companies like Tesla and SpaceX. “You know, they’re celebrating that he created 4,400 millionaires, but they don’t talk about the 4.5 million children around the world who he possibly sentenced to death by dismantling USAID,” Khanna charged.

Musk fired back, dubbing the Silicon Valley Democrat “Robber Khanna” and later stating “Robber Khanna should be in prison.” He pointed to recent DOJ revelations of a massive $550 million USAID-linked bribery scheme involving corrupt officials and contractors, arguing that DOGE’s actions targeted unverified, fraud-prone spending rather than direct aid to children. 

The exchange has spotlighted longstanding questions about Khanna’s own finances and ethics. 

Public records show Khanna’s household net worth has skyrocketed from roughly $27–46 million to an estimated $232.7 million during his nine years in Congress. His family’s reported stock trading volume exceeds $631 million across more than 38,666 transactions—making him the most prolific Democratic stock trader in the House. 

Critics highlight a 2022 New York Times investigation that found over 15% overlap between Khanna’s legislative work and companies traded by family members through trusts. Notable examples include substantial gains in AI and semiconductor stocks, such as a reported 143% return on Nvidia shares timed near the CHIPS Act. His family’s AI-focused trades reportedly outperformed the S&P 500 by 112.1% in recent years. 

Despite these extraordinary stock gains and trading activity, Khanna has positioned himself as a champion of anti-corruption reforms. He has repeatedly called for a ban on congressional stock trading, stating he does not personally own or trade stocks and that his family’s investments are held in a blind trust managed by a third-party trustee in compliance with ethics rules. He has co-sponsored legislation targeting insider trading by lawmakers and pushed broader political reforms including term limits. 

Critics accuse him of hypocrisy, noting trades executed in the names of his wife and children that appear to benefit from his policy influence in tech-heavy districts. Khanna has faced backlash in his district over these issues, particularly his strong support for California’s billionaire wealth tax, which has driven trillions of dollars in wealth and businesses out of the state.

The pair have clashed before. In early 2025, Musk told Khanna “Don’t be a d—” after the congressman pushed for a subpoena related to DOGE operations. Khanna has at times praised Musk and Tesla for job creation in his district but has grown increasingly critical of Musk’s government efficiency role and influence. 

As California faces widespread taxpayer-funded fraud, including a major April 2026 Medi-Cal hospice scheme in Los Angeles that led to 21 charged individuals and $267 million in alleged fraudulent billings, along with federal takedowns resulting in multiple arrests and tens of millions more in losses, Rep. Ro Khanna has issued no public statements specifically addressing these high-profile state and federal investigations and prosecutions. 

While Khanna has previously called for bipartisan oversight hearings on California’s high-risk programs, independent audits of the state budget, and greater accountability to address waste, fraud, and abuse (particularly in late 2025 amid debates over a proposed billionaire wealth tax), he has remained silent on these recent local cases. 

Khanna’s deafening silence stands in notable contrast to his vocal criticism of federal efficiency reforms led by Elon Musk under DOGE. Whether a lawsuit materializes remains to be seen.