The Atlantic’s David Frum faced backlash on Twitter after he suggested the United States government should nationalize Elon Musk’s Starlink company to provide free internet to Ukraine during their war with Russia.
Frum argued on Monday that it is becoming too "unwise" to suspect that Musk will continue to provide Starlink satellite equipment to help Ukrainian citizens access the internet during Russia’s invasion of the country. To remedy this, he suggested the U.S. government should seize and nationalize the company if Musk ever plans to pull his satellites.
"It was always unreasonable, and is becoming unwise, to expect @elonmusk to provide Internet to Ukraine for free forever. Western allies should pay. And US should have a plan ready to nationalize Starlink fast if Musk cuts off Ukraine's connection to advance his political agenda," Frum tweeted.
He added, "There's abundant precedent for US government seizure of critical infrastructure during wars or national emergencies. Of course, reasonable compensation must be paid, per the Fifth Amendment to the US Constitution."
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Many social media users pushed back against Frum's proposal, calling it a "fascist" response.
"Nationalize a private industry for military purposes? Sounds a lot like fascism," journalist Ian Miles Cheong tweeted.
"The US should nationalize The Atlantic because David Frum and that publication are a threat to national security. If I’m ever elected, this will happen on Day 1," conservative radio host Jesse Kelly wrote.
Republican commentator Matt Whitlock explained, "This would be a great way to ensure private companies never go out of their way to lend a hand again - if their charity isn't extended indefinitely, the government can just take it over!"
Townhall.com columnist Derek Hunter tweeted, "Just below the surface, David is worse than you ever thought he was."
"For many of these people, the primary attraction to the anti-Russia war is the ability to use the pretext against their enemies domestically. It’s totalitarianism dressed in drag as geopolitics," Claremont Institute Fellow David Reaboi wrote.
The Federalist senior editor David Harsanyi joked, "Proposing the nationalizing of industry for the war effort isn't fascistic at all!"
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After the backlash, Frum responded by suggesting that critics of his tweets were "Elon-heads" who didn’t understand constitutional procedures.
"This 2-part thread ignited the Elon-heads, who think it's 'communist' for the federal government to follow procedures laid down by the Fifth Amendment," Frum wrote.
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Musk received backlash from the Ukrainian government after he tweeted a proposal that Ukraine cede a part of its country to Russia in order to stop the war.
However, Musk reaffirmed his support for Ukraine in a tweet announcing that Starlink would continue to fund the country even at a loss.
"The hell with it … even though Starlink is still losing money & other companies are getting billions of taxpayer $, we’ll just keep funding Ukraine govt for free," Musk tweeted.
