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Elon Musk buying his way into politics · Elon Musk Podcast

• 0:01
  Hey everybody. Welcome back to the Elon Musk
• 0:04
  Podcast. This is a show where we discuss
• 0:07
  the critical crossroads that shape SpaceX, Tesla X, The
• 0:11
  Boring Company, and Neurolink. I'm your host Will Walden.
• 0:16
  Elon Musk floated the idea of launching a new political party
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  last week, openly distancing himself from Donald Trump after
• 0:24
  Congress passed Trump's major spending package.
• 0:27
  The Musk, currently the wealthiest person in the world,
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  openly questioned the effectiveness of America's two
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  party system, suggesting it may no longer represent most voters.
• 0:38
  But how realistic is Musk's proposal to reshape US politics?
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  And can it genuinely alter the political balance in Washington?
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  It's happened before. Think about Ross Perot.
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  How did that work out now? Musk made headlines by publicly
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  supporting Senator Rand Paul's criticism of Trump's recently
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  approved big, not so beautiful bill.
• 1:03
  Paul, a Republican senator from Kentucky, described the
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  legislation as fiscally irresponsible, saying it would
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  sharply increase the national debt.
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  Musk responded with strong agreement on social media,
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  adding a 100% emoji to Paul's comments.
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  Now, the Congressional Budget Office, CBO, A nonpartisan
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  federal agency, estimated the bill will raise U.S. debt by
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  approximately $3.4 trillion / 10 years.
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  This edition will expand the national debt, currently at
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  $36.2 trillion, significantly further.
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  Musk, who previously themed the bill a debt slavery bill, has
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  consistently argued that ballooning federal debt weakened
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  competitiveness globally, especially within technology and
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  advanced manufacturing sectors. Musk's recent public
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  disagreements with Trump have come despite Musk's prominent
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  financial backing during Trump's 2024 potential re election
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  campaign, and the tension between the two increased due to
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  Musk's objection over cuts in incentives for EVs and
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  provisions that Musk argued were directly harmful to innovations
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  of his own company, Tesla. Now Trump dismissed Musk's
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  protests, accusing him of being personally disgruntled after
• 2:18
  losing influence within the Oval Office.
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  Now President Trump responded sharply to Musk's criticism,
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  calling Musk irrational and suggesting he had become
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  difficult after a mandate forcing EV adoption was removed.
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  Now Trump stated clearly on True Social that Musk had acted
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  irrashly because his lobbying for EV incentives was not
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  successful. Trump added further that Musk's
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  financial support was unnecessary despite the sizable
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  contributions Musk made during Trump's campaign.
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  And in response, Musk openly questioned the viability of the
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  existing two party structure and presented it on our alternative
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  political path. He proposed the American Party,
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  or the America Party, which is designed specifically to target
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  key political races. Rather than attempting broad
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  national efforts immediately, Musk detailed a tactical
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  strategy focusing on securing just two or three Senate seats
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  and a handful, approximately 8 to 10 of House seats.
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  This targeted approach, Musk said, could wield significant
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  influence by shifting control on crucial legislative decisions.
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  So far, Musk has not specifically named any targeted
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  candidates or races, nor has he provided a concrete timeline or
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  funding strategy. Musk also has not confirmed
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  whether he himself would actively campaign or simply
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  utilize his wealth and platform to back candidates.
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  However, Musk has repeatedly stressed his dissatisfaction
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  with current political processes and insists on necessity of a
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  party that directly reflects A broader centrist majority.
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  Now, Musk confidently asserted his political importance,
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  claiming openly on X that Trump's presidential victory
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  depended directly on Elon Musk's support in his money.
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  Musk argued that without his backing, Democrats would have
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  won control of the House and held a narrow Senate Majority.
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  In an assertive comment directed toward Republican strategist,
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  Musk added that Trump's influence would expire in
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  approximately 3 years, whereas his own impact would endure for
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  decades now. These statements have unsettled
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  Republican political strategists, who relied
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  significantly on Musk's influential support to assemble
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  the successful coalition that secured Trump's victory in 2024.
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  Now, Musk's apparent decision to publicly distance himself from
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  Trump threatens the cohesion of this group just as preparations
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  begin for the critical 2026 midterms.
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  Many Republicans had hoped to continue relying on Musk's high
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  profile endorsements and donations, though now, when?
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  Musk's alignment with Senator Rand Paul, who is known for
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  strict fiscal conservative views, presents an interesting
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  potential partnership. Paul has consistently opposed
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  excessive government spending and openly criticized Trump's
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  spending plans. The senator statement that the
• 5:21
  administration prioritizes short term politicking over long term
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  sustainability provided Musk with a clear platform to further
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  express and clarify his own political positions.
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  The White House has previously criticized the CBO estimates as
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  politically motivated and inaccurate, claiming instead
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  that spending will translate into stronger national economic
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  performance, although specific economic projections and
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  detailed analysis supporting this view have not yet been
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  fully disclosed to the public. There's no information out there
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  yet now. Investor reaction to Musk's
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  public political comments was very swift.
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  Tesla stock fell noticeably following the public feud.
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  Analysts voiced concern that Musk's intensifying political
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  involvement could distract from his duties as CEO and negatively
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  impact Tesla's strategic direction.
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  The Musk has continued to speak publicly, however, indicating he
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  has no intention of backing away from political discourse.
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  Now, he posted a poll on X asking millions of his followers
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  directly if they wanted a new political independence from
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  Democrats and Republicans. The poll quickly received
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  millions of responses, indicating broad public interest
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  and raising further questions about Musk's next political
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  moves. However, we don't know if that
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  post was boded and if all of those people were from the
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  United States. It's just broad across all of X,
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  So it's not a pinpoint poll. So it kind of doesn't mean
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  anything in the context of all of this.
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  Could be people from across the globe.
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  Musk has not yet detailed specific operational plans or
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  formally announced any official steps toward creating the
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  American Party. Basically what Elon Musk did
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  with that poll was to show influence.
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  He thinks showing that he has millions of people supporting
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  him for his political party will bolster the public behind him.
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  And as we know, people like to follow other people, especially
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  Elon Musk, the most powerful man in America probably other than
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  the president as far as a as a regular citizen goes.
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  So if you can show that there's millions of people driving this
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  new party, and he can show that these people are legitimately
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  from the United States, then he may have something here.
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  Ultimately, though, Musk's recent actions signaled and
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  explicit departure from supporting Trump in his
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  policies. He's on his own now.
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  He's going to do his own party. His suggestion of his new
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  political party, which targets crucial congressional seats,
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  indicates he's contemplating serious involvement in American
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  politics beyond mere social media debates.
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  And the emergence of the American party remains
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  hypothetical. But Musk has made clear his
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  willingness to influence electoral outcomes significantly
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  in upcoming cycles. If Elon Musk can't be president
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  because he can't due to him not being born here, then he's going
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  to try to influence politics in any way he can.
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  He's going to buy politics, basically.
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  What do you think of this? If you have comments on whatever
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  podcast platform you're on right now, let me know, because do you
• 8:44
  think Elon Musk is right doing this?
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  Do you think he's right for making another political party
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  basically by like buying politics?
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  That's what he's doing. He's trying to buy power, and if
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  he buys power in politics, I mean, it happens behind closed
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  doors, but he's doing it in front of everybody's face.
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  Let me know what you think in the comments on your podcast
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  platform. Hey, thank you so much for
• 9:05
  listening today. I really do appreciate your
• 9:07
  support. If you could take a second and
• 9:09
  hit this subscribe or the follow button on whatever podcast
• 9:12
  platform that you're listening on right now, I greatly
• 9:15
  appreciate it. It helps out the show
• 9:17
  tremendously and you'll never miss an episode.
• 9:19
  And each episode is about 10 minutes or less to get you
• 9:23
  caught up quickly. And please, if you want to
• 9:26
  support the show even more, go to patreon.com/stage Zero.
• 9:32
  And please take care of yourselves and each other.
• 9:34
  And I'll see you tomorrow.