Alexander Vindman is a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel and a prominent national security expert. He currently leads the Institute for Informed American Leadership, a think tank focused on national security, and is on the executive board of the Renew Democracy Initiative.
Vindman is also a senior advisor to VoteVets and the author of the New York Times bestselling memoir Here, Right Matters: An American Story. He heads the Here Right Matters Foundation, a nonprofit supporting Ukraine in its conflict with Russia.
Vindman is currently trending on X for making comments in an MSNBC interview about Putin and insinuating that Elon Musk is a 'narcissist and egomaniac' who could be working with Putin. He said:
"We are under attack. Russia has been using different levers whether that's corruption networks, in this case, it's influencers like Donald Trump, like Elon Musk."
In the interview, Vindman then characterized Musk as a probable tool of Russian influence and as someone through whom information could 'seep through.' He said:
"And it is particularly troubling with Elon Musk in this case because Elon Musk has access to state secrets, he has top-security clearance. Its possible that some of that is seeping through. Putin has been very effective in playing both Trump and Elon."
Vindman also alleged that Putin has been using Elon Musk to 'do his bidding':
"And he's been using the richest man in the world to do his bidding. In some cases that is maybe encouraging him to support Donald Trump. That's not speculation, we've seen how far Elon Musk has gone and then using Twitter as a disinformation platform. So this is not some far off distant threat. This is going to impact our elections. It's a national security threat. "
X users are reacting to Vindman's explosive interview
From hilarious reactions to people fuming and calling Vindman's claims 'baseless,' here's how people are reacting to the video of Vindman making these claims about Elon Musk being a probable instrument for Putin and Russia.
One X user said:
"Sounds like @Elon should file a defamation lawsuit against Vindman... not that Elon needs 20 millions but that Vindman needs to understand that his false statements come with a price."
"Vindman says without evidence that Elon is selling state secrets to Russia. I fixed it," wrote another.
"I don't like Elon Musk but this one seems farfetched. I don't think Elon Musk has a security clearance" said an X user.
A user even chuckled by sharing a picture of Vindman driving a Tesla. They said:
"All the while, he likely drives a Tesla."
Vindman's career
Trending
Previously, Vindman served as the Director for European Affairs on the U.S. National Security Council and worked as a political-military affairs officer at the Pentagon and in U.S. embassies in Moscow and Kyiv. He is known for authoring the U.S. National Military Strategy for Russia.
A decorated military officer, Vindman earned two Legions of Merit and a Purple Heart for injuries sustained during the Iraq War. He holds a master's degree from Harvard University and a Ph.D. from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, where he is a senior fellow. Additionally, he frequently appears on NPR, MSNBC, and CNN to share his expertise.
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