WNBA player Natasha Cloud took aim at Elon Musk with a brutal comment about the tech billionaire’s return to Africa after her and Donald Trump’s failed attempt to impose a government shutdown.
President Joe Biden signed a bill into law Saturday that averted a government shutdown, ending days of turmoil after Congress approved a temporary funding plan just after the deadline.
Musk and President-elect Trump had been leading a conservative rebellion against that bill, which extends current government funding levels through March 14, after becoming angry over what they perceived as unrelated measures attached to it; including a pay raise for congressional lawmakers and health care policy provisions.
Despite both men threatening to expel any lawmaker who did not support them, the House ultimately passed the bill after dozens of Republicans challenged the incoming president and expressed their support.
And Cloud, who currently plays for Phoenix Mercury, lashed out at South African businessman Musk and other ‘billionaires’ after his attempt to shut down the government failed.
‘So when did they leave and tell Elon to go back to Africa?’ the 32-year-old wrote in X.
WNBA player Natasha Cloud took aim at Elon Musk after Donald Trump’s defeat in Congress
Trump and Musk’s rebellion against a Democratic-backed funding bill failed over the weekend
Cloud then continued in a separate post: ‘I’m so glad ALL of these billionaires have no idea how the three branches of government work… or how a bill becomes a law.
“Shout out to the 38 Republicans who rejected the bill in the House while being threatened and blackmailed.”
Cloud has previously expressed his disdain for Trump, posting on Until we fix the roots… it will never grow.’
After Trump and Musk’s defeat, the funding bill will provide $100 billion in disaster relief and $10 billion in agricultural assistance to farmers.
“This deal represents a compromise, meaning neither side got everything they wanted,” Biden said in a statement, adding that it “ensures the government can continue to operate at full capacity.” “That is good news for the American people.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, had insisted that lawmakers would “meet our obligations” and not allow federal operations to be shut down. But the outcome at the end of a tumultuous week was uncertain after Trump insisted the deal included an increase in the government’s borrowing limit. If not, he had said, then let the closures “start now.”
Johnson’s revised plan passed by 366 votes to 34, and the Senate passed it by a vote of 85 to 11 after midnight. By then, the White House said it had ceased preparations for the shutdown.
Cloud has asked when Musk will be told to “go back to Africa” after attacking him on X.
“There will be no government shutdown,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.
Johnson, who had spoken to Trump after the House vote, said the compromise was “a good outcome for the country” and that the president-elect was “certainly happy with this outcome as well.”
The final product was Johnson, the embattled speaker,’s third attempt to achieve one of the federal government’s basic requirements: keeping it open.
The difficulties raised questions about whether he will be able to keep his job, in the face of angry Republican colleagues, and work alongside Trump and Musk, who were directing legislative plays from afar.