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Democrats should encourage Musk to trash MAGA - but under no circumstances invite him into the party [1]
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Date: 2025-06-08
Democrats are toying with the idea of seducing Musk into their Party's fold. On Friday, Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) said :
"Having Elon speak out against the irrational tariff policy, against the deficit exploding Trump bill, and the anti-science and anti-immigrant agenda can help check Trump's unconstitutional administration." He added, "I look forward to Elon turning his fire against MAGA Republicans instead of Democrats in 2026."
It sounds like a super idea. Musk could rig Twitter's algorithms to favor left-wing pundits and positions. Why not also have the world's richest man pour money into Democratic campaigns? In addition, the man would have the passion of a lover scorned by his ex and ready to exact vengeance.
However, what on paper reads like a winning proposition is, in reality, a suspect stratagem.
On the potentially positive side, Musk has shelled out millions — in 2024, he gave $288 million to back Trump and MAGA. The Democrats wouldn't mind seeing some of that in 2026 and 2028. However, even with Musk's support for the GOP, the Democrats didn't lag far behind in fundraising.
If Musk simply disappeared from politics, the Democrats would be financially ahead. And that advantage would come without all the baggage Musk would bring.
If, on the other hand, the Democrats actively courted Musk to join the Party, the GOP's political ads would write themselves. The man is a drug-abusing, petulant, unpredictable asshole. He is guaranteed to tweet something stupid — some new outrage, which the Democrats would now own, would be grist for MAGA's media mill.
Worse, Musk has established a track record of supporting fascism in Germany and the UK . How would the Democrats explain that in their marketing? Republicans are not constrained by conscience or honesty. They would rewrite history. And unblushingly run ads pretending that Musk was a liberal all along — even as he was Sieg Heiling and metaphorically goose-stepping across the political stage. The left would have to wear Elon's Nazi salute like a scarlet letter.
Democrats would be better served by reminding voters that Musk is precisely the sort of greedy rich guy who thinks the political system should be nothing more than a mechanism for transferring wealth from those who work to those who benefit from that work. But at the same time, along the lines of a broken clock being right twice a day, let him fire his venom at MAGA.
Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) gets it. During a Sunday interview on NBC's Meet the Press, anchor Kristen Welker asked Booker whether he would take money from Musk. The Senator responded by saying that Musk could be helpful if he used his social media heft to fight the Republican bill stripping the poor of Medicaid to benefit the wealthy.
"I welcome Elon Musk, not to my campaign. I welcome him right now, not to sit back and just fire off tweets, to get involved right now in a more substantive way and putting pressure on congresspeople and senators to not do this [pass the Big Beautiful Bill]."
When Welker pressed Booker for a definitive answer on whether he would take Musk's money, Cory replied:
"I would not accept money from Elon Musk for my campaign. But I would be supportive of anybody, including Elon Musk, putting resources forward right now to let more Americans know, sound the alarm, treat this like a Paul Revere moment."
There you have it. The Democrats should encourage Musk to do his rabid Rottweiler act on the Republicans. But they should not allow him into their home. The enemy of your enemy should be treated as useful. However, under no circumstances should the Democrats consider Musk their ally, let alone their friend.
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