Photo: PA
A parody chat between Bernie Sanders and Elon Musk has gone viral because of how real it seems.
The fictional conversation was shared by Youtuber Justin T Brown and shows Sanders and Musk recording a podcast and smoking cannabis.
In the video, Brown manages to dub vocals that sound like the two personalities’ voices, and create a discussion around income inequality, greed, taxes, political revolution and marijuana.
In the video, Sanders exposes the increasing wealth disparity in the US, saying: “Over the last thirty years, the top one per cent have seen a 21 trillion dollar increase in their wealth.
“The bottom half of America has seen a 900 billion dollar decline in their wealth.”
Musk, who is the richest man in the world, replied: “Hmm, that’s strange.”
Later in the clip, Sanders told Musk: “Pay your taxes. That’s what I want you to do”.
Hesitating, Musk replied: “Well… no. Definitely not.”
Reactions poured in following the video.
Actor John Bowe said “it’s a clever edit that makes great points but it is a work of fiction,” whilst author Marianne Williamson added “it’s true even though it isn’t real.”
Meanwhile, American promoter Lou DiBella chipped in: “Brilliant! Kudos to whoever put it together. Wish it were real… and I’m not sure how different it would be if it were.
“And boy do I skeeve Elon Musk … even when parodied!”
Last month, Elon Musk was criticised after sending a series of mocking tweets to Bernie Sanders, implying he thought the senator from Vermond was dead.
“I keep forgetting that you’re still alive,” the Tesla owner tweeted
Musk’s tweet was in response to a tweet from Sanders, 80, that demanded “the extremely wealthy pay their fair share”.
Musk later posted more tweets: “Want me to sell more stock, Bernie? Just say the word…,” he said.
Responding to someone else’s comment, Musk added: “Bernie is a taker, not a maker.”
Earlier in November, Musk said he would sell six billion dollars (£4.4 billion) worth of Tesla stock and donate the proceeds to the United Nations’ food agency if it can show how the money would solve world hunger.
His statement came after UN World Food Programme executive director David Beasley challenged Mr Musk, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and other billionaires in a CNN interview last week, calling on them to step up on “a one-time basis” to help end starvation.
In the interview, Mr Beasley said billionaires could give “six billion dollars to help 42 million people that are literally going to die if we don’t reach them”.
“It’s not complicated,” he said.
That money would be approximately two per cent of Mr Musk’s fortune, nearly 300 billion dollars (£220 billion), according to Forbes.
Related: ‘Is this a joke?’: Elon Musk named Time magazine’s Person of the Year
