Elon Musk made waves on The Joe Rogan Experience, confirming what many Americans have long suspected—Washington, D.C. is rife with corruption, and Democrats are reaping the biggest rewards.
“I’d say about three-quarters of the graft goes to Democrats, with maybe 20-25% benefiting Republicans,” Musk stated, pulling back the curtain on how the system enriches political elites.
“Most of the corruption flows to the Democrats, but they toss a few scraps to the Republicans, just enough to keep them quiet and complicit.”
During their discussion, Musk and Rogan delved into the staggering wealth accumulation of members of Congress, who somehow manage to transform their relatively modest $170,000 annual salaries into multimillion-dollar fortunes.
Musk didn’t mince words: “It’s literally impossible” for politicians to amass such wealth through legal means alone.
A prime example? Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her husband, Paul Pelosi, whose investment timing has repeatedly raised red flags.
President Donald Trump has publicly called for Pelosi to be prosecuted over her suspiciously timed sale of Visa stock, which occurred just before the company faced a major lawsuit.
“Nancy Pelosi sold off huge amounts of Visa stock one day before the big lawsuit that hit the news,” Trump pointed out. “She should be prosecuted for that.”
This isn’t an isolated incident. The Pelosis have a well-documented history of uncanny stock market success, often beating the market by wide margins.
In 2023, their investment portfolio reportedly saw a staggering 65% return—far outpacing the S&P 500’s 24% gain. And in 2022, Paul Pelosi made a major investment in Nvidia call options just weeks before Congress approved billions in subsidies for the chip industry, sparking further accusations of insider trading.
Paul Pelosi also unloaded over $500,000 in Visa stock just weeks before the Department of Justice hit the company with an antitrust lawsuit. That same year, he dumped 20,000 shares of Google stock in December—one month before the DOJ filed another antitrust case.
Nancy Pelosi has consistently denied any wrongdoing, claiming she doesn’t own stocks and has no involvement in her husband’s financial dealings.
Musk, meanwhile, proposed a controversial solution: significantly increasing politicians’ salaries to reduce the incentive for bribery.
“I actually suggested on X that maybe we should pay politicians a lot more,” Musk said. “It’s counterintuitive, but if they had a higher salary, there’d be less pressure to take corrupt money.”
Rogan wasn’t buying it.
“No matter how much you pay them, it’s still not going to match what they make from insider trading,” he countered.
Perhaps the most chilling part of the conversation came when Musk admitted that speaking out against the corruption machine could have deadly consequences.
Rogan pointed out how easy it is for politicians to profit from insider information.
“Well, especially if it’s legal, and it currently is. You’d be silly not to do it. If you’re part of a group of people that’s passing a bill, and you know this bill is going to get passed, you know the votes are there, and you know it’s going to affect this industry and this particular manufacturer, and you can buy stock…”
Musk agreed but hinted that the corruption runs much deeper.
“It’s more than just insider trading,” he said. “The insider trading—the stock portfolio stuff—is quite trackable, but it’s a lot more than that.”
“How are they acquiring their wealth?” Rogan pressed.
Musk hesitated before dropping a bombshell.
“I mean, this is really going to get me assassinated,” he said. “I’m not lengthening my lifespan by explaining this stuff, to say the least. I mean, I was supposed to go back to D.C.—how am I going to survive? This broker is going to kill me for sure. In fact, I do think I actually have to be careful that I don’t push too hard on the corruption stuff because it’s going to get me killed. I was actually thinking about that on the flight over here—if I push too hard on the corruption stuff, people get desperate. That’s the issue.”
And that, Rogan noted, is exactly the problem. Washington is packed with career politicians who prioritize power, wealth, and control over the people they’re supposed to serve. The corruption isn’t just a problem—it’s a system. And anyone who tries to expose it is putting themselves in serious danger.
