'National Security Problem': MSNBC Host Tees Up Biden Treasury Secretary To Take Swing At Elon Musk

MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell teed up Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Tuesday to comment on how billionaire Elon Musk poses a potential threat to national security. "Let me finally ask you about a New York Times report, but other reporting that we have done on Elon Musk and his relationship with China," Mitchell said. "Obviously Tesla competing now against their cheaper EVs, but he is really dependent on that Chinese market, very tied in with them. He has huge defense contracts. His satellites or the satellites we rely on for so much of our communication. Is it a national security problem for - and his rockets, of course - isn't it a national security problem for our government to have so much reliance on this one entrepreneur?". "Well, look, we take national security very seriously and want to protect our national security," she said. "Our desire is not to shut down economic relations with China. We want to diversify our supply chains, but many American firms operate in China and gain from the ability to sell to China's large market." Musk met with Shanghai Chinese Communist Party Committee Secretary Chen Jining and China's foreign, commerce and industry ministers in 2023, according to Reuters. "The interests of the United States and China are intertwined like conjoined twins," China's foreign ministry quoted Musk as remarking following a meeting, according to CNN Business.