JD Vance and Ro Khanna wage a tweet war over Elon Musk's poll to rehire fired DOGE employee 'normalizing Indian hate'

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

In the latest controversy surrounding Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), the political heat has been turned up as Democratic Representative Ro Khanna calls out Vice President JD Vance over the rehire of a former Musk staffer with a history of racist social media posts. At the center of the storm is 25-year-old Marko Elez, a former DOGE staffer who resigned after being linked to an X (formerly Twitter) account that posted inflammatory statements, including one calling for the normalization of «Indian hate.»

Now, as Musk floats the idea of bringing Elez back through an X poll—garnering nearly 80% support—Vance and Khanna are at odds over whether the controversial tech worker deserves a second chance.

Musk, never one to shy away from a headline-grabbing decision, took to X to ask his millions of followers: “Bring back @DOGE staffer who made inappropriate statements via a now deleted pseudonym?” The response was overwhelming, with an estimated 80% voting in favor of Elez’s return.

Vice President JD Vance, weighing in on the controversy, defended Elez, saying, “We shouldn’t reward journalists who try to destroy people. Ever. So I say bring him back. If he’s a bad dude or a terrible member of the team, fire him for that.”

But that didn’t sit well with Ro Khanna, who directly challenged Vance, given his own personal ties to the issue. “Are you going to tell him to apologize for saying ‘Normalize Indian hate’ before this rehire?” Khanna asked. “Just asking for the sake of both of our kids.” The pointed remark was a reference to the fact that Vance is married to Usha Vance, an Indian-American woman, making Elez’s comments particularly personal.

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Vice President JD Vance did not