Elon Musk is ramping up his feud with Donald Trump. Does that mean Democrats can like him again?
They used to. It wasn’t that long ago that the tech titan won praise from the left for his electric vehicle innovations, and the Tesla became the status symbol of choice for clean-energy elites. Last October, Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) told Chris Stirewalt on “The Hill Sunday,” that to some people, “that’s Tony Stark. He’s the world’s richest man, and he’s undeniably a brilliant guy.”
But then Musk made a right turn, supporting Trump in the runup to the 2024 election, and manning the cost-slashing Department of Government Efficiency.
The knives were out, and not just for Musk.
The Tesla itself was a sign of Trumpism, and ripe for “resistance,” aka vandalism. Cars and cybertrucks were torched, damaged, dealerships set ablaze. Musk’s affiliation with the president, and Trump’s embrace of the Tesla, were red capes waving in the face of bullish Dems.
As Fox Business reported in March, Trump bought a red Tesla Model S as “a show of confidence and support for Elon Musk, a truly great American.” He showed off his new wheels at the White House, similar to when Biden, in 2021, drove a Jeep Wrangler Hybrid on the White House South Lawn underscoring his executive order to require half of new car and truck sales be electric by 2030.
What was fine for Biden is, of course, bad for Trump.
“Grocery prices are soaring. Housing costs are skyrocketing. Retirement savings are plummeting. But Donald Trump thought today would be a good day to play car salesman,” Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren said in a post on X.
Anti-Muskers gleefully tracked Tesla’s falling stock prices on social media.
But now that Musk is blasting Trump and the Big Beautiful Bill, will all be forgiven?
Their relationship went south after Musk criticized the reconciliation package as a “disgusting abomination” and said it would be “political suicide” for Republicans, The Hill reported.
The president said he was disappointed with the billionaire’s analysis, which led to a tense back-and-forth between the men online. Tesla sales have plunged since the dustup.
Musk has doubled down, promoting the idea of a third party. Hours before Trump signed the bill into law, Musk asked followers on X whether he should move forward with creating the “America Party.”
“Independence Day is the perfect time to ask if you want independence from the two-party (some would say uniparty) system!” he wrote. “Should we create the America Party?”
Musk later posted: “One way to execute on this would be to laser-focus on just 2 or 3 Senate seats and 8 to 10 House districts. Given the razor-thin legislative margins, that would be enough to serve as the deciding vote on contentious laws, ensuring that they serve the true will of the people.”
Whether he’s really serious or just trolling Trump, Musk isn’t the face of Team Trump anymore, like he was when he gave his son a piggyback ride in the Oval Office as the president looked on.
As the rudderless Democratic Party seems bent on performative protest moves against Trump, embracing Musk in the spirit of “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” would be par for the course.
At the very least, Tesla owners could charge their EVs in peace.
