Elon Musk forms new U.S. political party

Elon Musk forms new U.S. political party | Daily Tribune

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Elon Musk, an ex-ally of US President Donald Trump, said Saturday he had launched a new political party in the United States to challenge what the tech billionaire described as the country’s “one-party system.”

The world’s richest person — and Trump’s biggest political donor in the 2024 election — had a bitter falling out with the president after leading the Republican’s effort to slash spending and cut federal jobs as head of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency.

Musk has clashed with Trump over the president’s massive domestic spending plan, saying it would explode the US debt, and vowed to do everything in his power to defeat lawmakers who voted for it.

Now he has created the so-called America Party, his own political framework, through which to try and achieve that.

“When it comes to bankrupting our country with waste & graft, we live in a one-party system, not a democracy,” the Space X and Tesla boss posted on X, the social media platform that he owns.

“Today, the America Party is formed to give you back your freedom.”

Musk cited a poll — uploaded on Friday, US Independence Day — in which he asked whether respondents “want independence from the two-party (some would say uniparty) system” that has dominated US politics for some two centuries.

The yes-or-no survey earned more than 1.2 million responses.

“By a factor of 2 to 1, you want a new political party and you shall have it!” he posted on Saturday.

After Musk heavily criticized the flagship spending bill — which eventually passed Congress and was signed into law — Trump threatened to deport the tech tycoon and strip federal funds from his businesses.

“We’ll have to take a look,” the president told reporters when asked if he would consider deporting Musk, who was born in South Africa and has held US citizenship since 2002.

On Friday after posting the poll, Musk laid out a possible political battle plan to pick off vulnerable House and Senate seats and become “the deciding vote” on key legislation.

All 435 US House seats are up for grabs every two years, while about one third of the Senate’s 100 members, who serve six-year terms, are elected every two years.

Some observers were quick to point out how third-party campaigns have historically split the vote — as businessman Ross Perot’s independent presidential run in 1992 did when it helped doom George H.W. Bush’s re-election bid resulting in Democrat Bill Clinton’s victory.

“You are pulling a Ross Perot, and I don’t like it,” one X user wrote to Musk.