Robert Reich Urges Democrats to Plan SpaceX, Starlink Nationalization; Musk Calls It Theft

Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich said on a podcast over the weekend that Democrats should begin laying the groundwork to nationalize SpaceX and Starlink if they win the White House, and Elon Musk replied on X that stealing companies is a serious crime and that Reich belongs in prison. Reich, who served under President Bill Clinton from 1993 to 1997, spoke on The Coffee Klatch with host Heather Lofthouse. He urged Democrats to defund Musk, go beyond oversight hearings and make the companies public corporations, arguing that no single private person should hold that much power. He also said Musk is bribing his way into politics and claimed that 75% of Musk's wealth depends on taxpayers buying Starlink systems for the Department of Defense. The Benton Institute counted $6.45 billion in SpaceX's largest Space Force awards this year: $2.29 billion for the Space Data Network and $4.16 billion for an airborne target-tracking satellite network.

The right-leaning Blaze and Daily Wire lead with Reich's proposal and Musk's reply. The Blaze headline frames it as a government takeover and includes Reich's Clinton-era résumé and his oligarchy and bribery remarks. The Daily Wire uses openly hostile language, calling the idea unhinged and authoritarian, and defends SpaceX by citing lower launch costs, reusable boosters and crewed launches that no longer depend on Russia. It omits contract figures. ZeroHedge, the alternative outlet, also headlines Musk's prison remark but adds a separate angle: it says no coverage had checked the 75% claim and sets it against the Benton Institute's Pentagon contract totals. Left-leaning outlets had not reported this story at the time of writing, while right-leaning and alternative outlets had.