Kamala Harris criticizes Elon Musk

Former US Vice President slams Elon Musk and warns world to “remember the 1930s” at Gold Coast property conference.

Ms. Kamala Harris. Photo: Reuters .

Former US Vice President Kamala Harris criticized billionaire Elon Musk , emphasizing that “we need to remember the 1930s,” and expressed concerns about artificial intelligence (AI) at a conference on the Gold Coast ( Australia ), the Guardian reported on May 25.

While not naming Musk, Harris cited an adviser in the Trump administration as an example of someone who “has the mistaken idea that the sign of a leader’s strength is how much he can crush someone.”

“There is a very famous person today, at least in the media, who has argued that empathy is a sign of weakness in Western civilization,” she says. “No, it is the empathy to care, to be concerned for the well-being of others that is a sign of strength.”

Billionaire Elon Musk previously criticized Harris’ Democratic administration and her views on immigration in an interview in March.

“The fundamental weakness of Western civilization is compassion, the exploitation of empathy,” Musk said.

In her closing remarks, Ms. Harris offered cryptic comments on the new US administration’s foreign and trade policies.

“I am really concerned about what is happening in the world right now,” she said. “I think we need to remember history. We need to remember the 1930s. It is important for us to remember that history teaches us that isolation is not the same as isolation for safety.”

“We need to understand and remember that history has taught us about interdependence and the interconnectedness between nations,” she said. “History has also taught us about the importance of relationships of trust, friendship, integrity and honesty.”

She shared that Americans are losing trust in AI because it threatens jobs and has the potential to spread misinformation.

“We should celebrate innovation, but — perhaps because I used to be a prosecutor — I think we also have to ask: Are people becoming vulnerable? And are we doing what we can to protect them?”

The former US Vice President, who is visiting Australia for the first time, is the guest of honour at the Australian Property 2025 Conference.

She had an hour-long talk on stage with real estate veteran John McGrath, in front of 4,500 real estate brokers.