How Seriously Should We Take Elon Musk’s ‘America Party’?

19 thoughts on “How Seriously Should We Take Elon Musk’s ‘America Party’?”

1. That Kamala Harris did not deliver a proverbial sack tap, the swiftly accurate power and incisive truth of which, permanently degraded Trump’s curb appeal, in her opening statement of their debate, will never cease to pain me. This guy is more overdue for a Joseph Welch moment than anything I’ve ever seen. I can’t even think of a good comparison that captures the degree to which this guy has dodged getting publicly humiliated while being the most objectively embarrassing fool you could create if you were writing an absurdist horror fantasy novel.

   1. Yeah, and now he has a political rival with $300 billion and a penchant for unpredictability that’s even more extreme than his own.

2. They have been running “from the archive” Bill Buckley at the national review for a while now.
   He has almost the opposite appeal as Trump, similar messages under the radar, but Buckley had that pedigreed poetic flair that the current writers at the review, lack. The national review is now overt in ways that Buckley would scoff at.

3. This is the post I’ve been waiting for. It was inevitable in the Tolstoyan sense of history–an inevitability where the West marches East, and then the East marches West. It all just seems like small individual tiles falling (I hear they’re called “dominoes”) at any given moment, but collectively it’s an avalanche that would happen regardless of the individuals involved.

   Once the OBBB kicks in with the new fiscal year this September, every part of Tesla will be unprofitable. We all have front-row seats to what will be remembered as one of the greatest–maybe the greatest–displays of self destruction in history.

   Finally, being condemned to witness the rise and rise of Donald J. Trump would have been the perfect Purgatorian punishment for W. F. Buckley. Sometimes when you stand athwart history saying, “Stop!” you get run over by a truck.

4. Here’s hoping an ongoing Donnie & Elon cage match destroys them both!

5. We are in an episode of the Twilight Zone on the Jerry Springer show.

6. Just on the math, if Elon even drew a small percentage away from the GOP, it could make a big difference in 4 years. Of course the Dems need to solve for a terrible case of cranial-rectal inversion before it would matter.

7. Can’t imagine where Musk could position a 3rd party. He won’t get one Democrat. Independents aren’t enough and what Republican is willing to jump ship. Musk via Doge has already shredded his own reputation. Maybe his play would be Republican primaries. How big a draw is being funded by the world’s richest man. How about the Tech Bros Party with a pitch that democracy can only survive by a marrying of the constitution with AI to deliver a chicken in every pot and ketamine in every pocket.

8. Two cents worth on the definition of Trump’s coalition. Could it be that a fair chunk of that are Thatcher-style small Shopkeepers? That forms a decent portion of the electorate if you count today’s gig-workers.

   I wonder if the tax-break to tipworkers in the OBBB is not aimed at them?

9. my main question is which one Putin backing…? …we’ve sadly seen how massive money and propaganda can be brutally disruptive…

   …my lol wants the party to be called the “Go Forth and Multiply” Party…

   1. He’s backing chaos. His goal is a weaker America.

      There was a report on Russian troll farms from 2021 where they uncovered that the Russian propaganda machine was pushing both sides of the Black Lives Matter / George Floyd wave of protests. There was outrage-bate for the left (look at this police brutality! These militias! These police being nice to these militias! And what the hell is going on in Portland?!), and there was outrage-bate for the right (look at the vandalism of small business property! Look at these cars being set on fire! Molotov cocktails being thrown at police! And what the hell is going on in Portland?!)

      Obviously, given a binary choice, Putin will always have one candidate he prefers, but for the most part, he just wants Americans at each others’ throats, tearing each other apart to save him the trouble of doing it himself.

      1. My thoughts exactly…

         1. …as in I’d be shocked if Elon is doing this completely on his own…

10. I am still waiting for a politician to lead a political party that primarily supports the majority of Americans to be in the “middle class”. A party that is supportive of a social safety net for those in need, is liberal with individual rights and is willing to work on decreasing our federal debt. Nothing too far right or left. It doesn’t seem like it should be this hard. In my personal opinion, if the Democratic Party shifted to be this party- they could win at the ballot box.

11. I actually used to teach American Government at a public high school. On several occasions, my fellow government teachers and I discussed the possibilities of “viable” third party in the Congress. If you could put together a firm coalition (or “party”) of about 10-12 committed moderates from both sides, in both houses, in theory, you could determine the outcome of most legislation by getting both existing parties to pander for your votes. There is no guarantee that a given President would then sign an approved bill into law, but at least you could represent “the middle,” and get things through the Congress.

    Modern day however, Democratic moderates are in ill favor, and Republican moderates are essentially extinct. The existing party leadership, on both sides, might also balk at offering any legislation that could be defeated by a small group of moderates which could then lead to even more gridlock. To my mind, any attempt to form a legitimate third party would have to be a grass roots movement similar to how the Tea Party originated, perhaps threatening to “primary” anyone who is not moderate, or perhaps liberal enough for their chosen agenda.

    Musk probably views himself as more of a “kingmaker,” who can readily fund those who will shoulder his views and/or oppose his adversaries up to and including Trump. (Recall, he claimed: “without me, Trump would have lost the election.”) Something akin to a modern political boss whose agenda would likely include Bitcoin, taxes, and all things Tesla. I doubt he has any genuine political/philosophical views that could serve as the basis for a viable “party,” but he could definitely fund a number of Democrats and any disaffected Republicans who don’t want to carry water for Trump anymore.

12. Elon Musk has over 225 million followers on X.
    Musk recently conducted a poll on X, asking his followers if they wanted him to form the “America Party”.
    1.2 million of his followers participated in the poll, with 65.4% voting in favor of creating the party.
    What does that tell you?

13. Watch Musk take a page out of the Rupert Murdoch playbook and try to buy a traditional media outlet (I use that term very loosely) like Newsmax. Granted, the Trump administration would find all sorts of reasons to block that from happening, but if he wants to have a fighting chance, he needs to think bigger than Twitter. Twitter’s reach might seem large, but Rupert Murdoch has far more influence on actual voters than Twitter given where the MAGA crowd gets their “news” (again, using the term very loosely).

    1. NewsMax is spoken for. Truth Social just announced a streaming platform, and NM is their first product offering.

       The President of the United States has his own personal propaganda network. Goebbels would be so proud.

       1. Haha, wow, didn’t see that, but obviously not surprised. Trump will just whip out the whataboutism and claim 60 Minutes alleged interview edits are somehow comparable.

          As a bonus, preachers can now preach the gospel of Trump right from the pulpit. We’ve got ourselves a hearty stew of propaganda going.