Kevin McCarthy Claims America Didn’t Build Rockets Until Elon Musk Arrived: ‘He Should Be Given a Medal’

Former Speaker Kevin McCarthy falsely credited South Africa-born billionaire Elon Musk with building the first rockets in the United States.

Musk, who spent $277 million to return President Donald Trump to the White House, has been laying off thousands of federal workers and cutting congressionally appropriated funding at various government agencies. Despite his prominent positions in the government, Musk’s companies have billions of dollars in contracts with the federal government. On Thursday, it was reported that Starlink – an internet provider and subsidiary of Musk’s SpaceX – was poised to swipe a $2.4 billion contract with the Federal Aviation Administration that had been taken from Verizon.

CNN legal analyst Elie Honig called the conflict of interest “a federal crime.”

Appearing on Thursday’s edition of The Ingraham Angle on Fox News, McCarthy and Laura Ingraham gushed over Musk’s spending cuts and the billionaire’s alleged genius in rocketry. The host noted that Democrats had been calling on an end to Musk’s contracts with the government given his role in the government. Over the years, Musk’s companies have received at least $38 billion from the government.

“Follow that logic,” Ingraham said.

“All that would do is help China,” McCarthy responded. “Before Elon Musk, we did not build a rocket engine in America. He went out and did it himself so we could go. We have astronauts stuck in space. We need Elon to go get them. We have a disaster in America. We need satellites. Starlink, that Elon has created. Elon creates something and helps the government in that process. He makes America stronger. And now they want to attack him because he’s actually– who is he looking out for? The hardworking taxpayer. That should be their job as elected official[s]. And they won’t do it, and he is volunteering to do it? He should be given a medal.”

Rockets in the U.S. predate Musk’s arrival from South Africa, as well as Musk’s existence.

In 1958, the U.S. launched its first rocket into space, and with it the first scientific satellite, Explorer 1. Obviously, there have been scores of additional launches since then, including several missions to the moon – some of which predated Musk’s birth in 1971. Moreover, it is not clear what if any role Musk has when it comes designing the rockets at SpaceX.

Watch above via Fox News.