NYU professor and podcaster calls Elon Musk a 'traitor,' compares him to Soviet spies excuted during Cold War

NYU professor and podcaster Scott Galloway called SpaceX CEO Elon Musk a "traitor" on Tuesday and compared him to Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, who were convicted of conspiracy to commit espionage for the Soviet Union in a case involving U.S. atomic secrets and later executed.

On Election Day, Galloway laid out an alternate history scenario on his "Prof G Podcast" to draw a comparison between Musk's actions and a hypothetical World War II scenario involving aviator Charles Lindbergh. Galloway was referring to reports that SpaceX restricted Starlink satellite internet speeds in Ukraine last month, reportedly disrupting Ukrainian military operations during the country's war with Russia.

"I want to propose a scenario," Galloway said. "It's the 30s, we're contemplating re-entering Europe. Paid a huge price in World War I. It's a very unpopular idea to go back, where it feels like we just left, and this innovator, Charles Lindbergh, is saying, ‘No, we should partner with the Germans.’" 

"Imagine, if you will, that Lindbergh was able to raise a ton of money and buy McDonnell Douglas, an aircraft manufacturer, and put in place this unbelievably innovative guidance system, and FDR decided to loan to the RAF (Royal Air Force) B-17s, an amazing bomber in defense of Europe as this fascist begins to invade Europe," he said. "And then the CEO of McDonnell Douglas, Charles Lindbergh, decides mid-flight, to turn off the guidance systems. And as a result, the blitzkrieg increases in fury and UK citizens are killed." 

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"I believe that has almost exactly played out in the last few weeks with Elon Musk throttling back Starlink," Galloway said. "And my question is, or my thesis is, we took the Rosenbergs and put them up against a wall and executed them for being traitors. And I realize this is an incendiary statement, but I'll make it, and I believe it. I think Elon Musk is a traitor to the West."

Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were executed in 1953 after being convicted of conspiracy to commit espionage for the Soviet Union in a case involving U.S. atomic secrets.

Galloway further argued, "And I think what is even more dangerous is this zeitgeist within America that the idolatry of innovators and money has created a cloud cover such that traitors to the West are not seen as traitors to the West. That if this had happened in any other age where we were not obsessed with innovators and money, a much different reaction would be playing out for Elon Musk."

Musk said Ukraine was using Starlink in violation of the service's restrictions, saying, "Using Starlink, a civilian commercial service, for offensive drone strikes to kill people has never been allowed."

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On a recent episode of the "Pivot" podcast with co-host Kara Swisher, Galloway made similar comments, saying, "We lined up the Rosenbergs against a wall. This is a traitor to the West, and he should be held to the same standards as every other traitor in the West."

"Comparing Elon Musk to the Rosenbergs is ludicrous," Theo Wold, a former White House deputy assistant for domestic policy during President Donald Trump’s first term, said in a statement to Fox News Digital about Galloway’s rhetoric. "Elon Musk is an innovator who epitomizes the technological advances and optimism that are at the center of Western Civilization, which incidentally, Democrats loved — that is, until Musk exercised his First Amendment freedoms to support Republicans." 

"That is no crime, and the only thing Scott Galloway is pushing for is a nakedly partisan witch hunt and the endorsement of violence against the Antifa Democrats’ political enemies," Wold added.

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Fox News Digital reached out to Elon Musk for comment but did not immediately receive a response.