Tech billionaire and Tesla chief Elon Musk informally launched his own political party known as the “America Party” on Saturday, he announced on his platform X, further distancing himself from President Donald Trump and the GOP, which became his targets as he recently blasted Trump’s controversial spending megabill.
Key Facts
- Musk said in a tweet the people of the U.S. live in a one-party system, “When it comes to bankrupting our country with waste & graft.”
- It is unclear if Musk had registered his political party with the Federal Election Commission as of Saturday, as no records of the America Party were present on the commission’s website.
- Musk announced the America Party a day after creating a poll that asked users if they “want independence from the two-party (some would say uniparty) system.”
- The poll received 1.2 million votes, with 65.4% of users voting “yes,” though it is worth noting the results are not accurate representations of public opinion, as Musk boasts the most followers on X and has been accused of boosting engagement on his own tweets.
- Musk, who often engages in satire or jokes online, appears serious about the formation of the America Party, recently suggesting it could put “laser-focus on just 2 or 3 Senate seats and 8 to 10 House districts” to sway votes on legislation.
Key Background
Elon Musk served as one of Trump’s closest advisers and headed the Department of Government Efficiency in the first five months of the president’s second term. Musk, who referred to himself as “first buddy” amid their close alliance, was involved in cabinet meetings and often lauded the president for his agenda. But tensions in their relationship began to show whenMusk, the world’s richest person, began blasting Trump’s signature spending bill last month, taking issue with its provision to raise the debt ceiling. The feud has since included allegations from Musk accusing Trump of being in the Jeffrey Epstein files—an allegation he eventually deleted from X—Trump threatening to pull government contracts from Musk’s companies and even telling reporters he would “have to take a look” at deporting Musk.
This article was originally published on forbes.com.
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