Vivek Ramaswamy once compared Elon Musk to a “circus monkey” eager to do China’s bidding before President-elect Donald Trump tapped the two men to co-lead his proposed Department of Government Efficiency,

According to recordings and social media posts obtained by CNN’s K-File, Ramswamy once described Musk, the Tesla billionaire who is now his co-director at the unofficial Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), as a puppet of the Chinese government.

Vivek Ramaswamy, the co-chair of the proposed Department of Government Efficiency alongside billionaire Elon Musk, has a lengthy history of attacking his partner’s ties to China, frequently referring to Musk as a “circus monkey” and a puppet for the Chinese Communist Party.