Tipsheet

The Vindman-Musk Feud Continues to Heat Up

Last week, as we've been covering, comments that Alexander Vindman made back in October on MSNBC have resurfaced, during which he claimed Elon Musk was in league with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Musk quickly took notice, as said Vindman, who played a role as a witness in the first impeachment against then President Donald Trump, committed "treason." The two engaged in a back-and-forth over X, with many other users joining in to share their thoughts, and it's remained a trending topic for days across the platform.

There's been notable players chiming in on both sides. On Thursday night, The Federalist's Mollie Hemingway issued a reminder over X of how she's already been raising concerns about Vindman. 

"It's really a testament to how crazy this town is that this is even remotely controversial," Hemingway said while on Fox News' "Special Report" when it comes to then President Trump firing Vindman from the National Security Council. "This was guy was insubordinate, he disobeyed a direct order. He went around the chain of command. He leaked. He clams he leaked to someone who was authorized to hear it, but we won't know because he won't tell us who he leaked to, so there's also an issue of perhaps lying to Congress about it. If he were in any other position in the military, he would already be court-martialed for this. The idea that a president would have to trust someone to give someone a paycheck who he can't trust, he can't listen to his advice, it's not even remotely controversial," Hemingway continued.

Defending Vindman has been Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA), who was recently just reelected. In posting an article from The Hill about the Vindman-Musk feud, Kaine shared a message for Musk, "The Vindman family embodies patriotism and public service. You know nothing about either."

Vindman reposted Kaine, as well as put out a quoted repost thanking the senator profusely. Kaine's post was also meant with strong reactions, and there have been approximately 13,000 replies thus far to his post. 

Kaine, once considered something of a moderate who was also Hilary Clinton's running mate for 2016, seems to have become anything but. Last month, for instance, he was one of just a handful of Democratic senators who voted for Sen. Bernie Sanders' (I-VT) anti-Israel resolutions. 

As Andy Ngo also reminded, Kaine's own son "was involved in Antifa and was part of a violent attack at the state capitol in Minnesota."

The ire isn't merely saved for Kaine, but for the Vindman family that the senator heaped praise upon. Vindman's wife, Rachel Vindman, has since deactivated her X account, but she's been known for doubling down on mocking the second assassination attempt against Trump, before finally deleting such a post, though she and her husband still managed to make the political violence all about them. 

In previous years, she also attacked House Republican Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik (R-NY) over a post to do with the Russia-Ukraine war, which even involved Vindman bringing Stefanik's infant son into it.

Such a feud was heating up around Thanksgiving, with Vindman continuing to lash out against Musk immediately following the holiday. It was only on Saturday morning that he posted a lengthy "Happy Thanksgiving" message, with many users chiming in to speak out against him. There's so far been close to 1,000 replies.