Elon Musk announces the formation of his third party — the America Party.

[Bigun]

Or he has no idea what he's doing.

As in this third party foolishness.

[Wingnut]

As in this third party foolishness.

The bigger the money the larger the fool. 

[Cyber Liberty]

As in this third party foolishness.

Perzackly.  He really doesn't grasp the consequences of what he's trying to do.  He thinks it's the 1850's Whigs.

[Hoodat]

I sense that John Fremont would be siding with Musk here.

[berdie]

I'm not in the least bit excited about this. I think he's having a Perot moment.

Besides, I haven't seen the platform or who he will have running. I have read that Cuban and Scaramucci are on board. Not a resounding endorsement imho.

[Cyber Liberty]

I sense that John Fremont would be siding with Musk here.

Before or after being screwed by the Know Nothings?

[Hoodat]

Before or after being screwed by the Know Nothings?

Before.  But an interesting parallel considering the Know Nothings closely resemble MAGA.

[Right_in_Virginia]

"Subsidies" is an overused word.  It's like calling tax cuts "tax expenditures."

A rose by any other name will smell as sweet @Cyber Liberty    ..... Call it what you will, the government has been very, very good to and for Elon Musk ---

Jun 6, 2025

An analysis by The Washington Post found that Musk and his firms have received $38 billion in the form of government contracts, loans, subsidies and tax credits over more than two decades that helped propel their growth.

The Post found that almost two-thirds of the $38 billion in funds were allocated to Musk's companies within the last five years. It added that in 2024, federal and local governments provided at least $6.3 billion to Musk's companies, the highest amount to date.

SpaceX has received at least $1 billion in government contracts, loans, subsidies and tax credits each year since 2016, and between $2 billion and $4 billion a year from 2021 to 2024 – while Tesla has received over $1 billion a year since 2020, the Post found.

The outlet noted that the companies have likely received additional funding and contracts that aren't publicly disclosed, such as classified contracts for defense and intelligence activities.

Reuters previously reported that SpaceX received a Department of Defense contract to develop spy satellites.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the intelligence satellite contract is valued at $1.8 billion, according to company documents.

Federal spending and contract data show that since 2008, SpaceX has been awarded over $20 billion in government contracts and funding commitments, of which nearly $9 billion has been paid.

The Independent noted that the total value of those SpaceX contracts could rise to more than $89 billion if completed.

The critical role of SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft came up amid the Trump-Musk feud, as Musk replied in response to Trump's threat of canceling all his federal contracts and subsidies by suggesting the company would begin to immediately decommission the Dragon – which is the only operational U.S. spacecraft in operation capable of missions to the International Space Station.

Musk later backtracked on his retaliatory threat, saying SpaceX won't decommission the Dragon.


More:  https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/how-much-have-musks-tesla-spacex-benefited-from-government-funds

[libertybele]

I'm not in the least bit excited about this. I think he's having a Perot moment.

Besides, I haven't seen the platform or who he will have running. I have read that Cuban and Scaramucci are on board. Not a resounding endorsement imho.

I don't know about a Perot moment, but rather a 'Elon Musk' moment. I agree that more could have been accomplished with the BBB, but Congress holds the purse strings, not Trump.  That's what I think he fails to fully recognize.

Yes, Musk himself cannot run for president and as I've stated before, we have no idea who he is going to hire to run for president.  Sure, he has the money to out campaign anyone, but that doesn't exactly equate to votes. I agree; Cuban and Scaramucci on his team won't go over well.

[jafo2010]

Very naive of Musk.  He really does not understand our political process, or he would not waste his time.  All his money will not make a 3rd viable political party.  Who is he going after?  What does he hope to accomplish when the two primary political parties are in cahoots with each other.

[Hoodat]

A rose by any other name will smell as sweet @Cyber Liberty    ..... Call it what you will, the government has been very, very good to and for Elon Musk ---

Still waiting to see those subsidies, @Right_in_Virginia .  Actual subsides.  Not a repost from the Washington Post repeating the same claim as you without offering any evidence (just like you).

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1813112958157005259

Here is Musk saying we should do away with subsidies.  That is the subsidies that consumers receive.  Tesla doesn't get any direct subsidies.  Neither does SpaceX.  But I suspect you knew that already since you couldn't come up with any.  So now is the time for that integrity check.  Either withdraw your claim, or double down on the lie.  Your choice.

[Hoodat]

I don't know about a Perot moment, but rather a 'Elon Musk' moment. I agree that more could have been accomplished with the BBB, but Congress holds the purse strings, not Trump.  That's what I think he fails to fully recognize.

We'll see what Trump does.  He doesn't have to spend the money.  Let's see if that $20 billion earmarked for USAID gets spent, or if it is still sitting in the Treasury at the end of the fiscal year.  Trump has a tremendous amount of power here to cut spending.  But by Musk's action, he must know that Trump has no intention of doing so.  And let's not forget the additional $110 billion to cover direct aid to illegals that Congress passed in December.  Trump was the biggest proponent of that.

[roamer_1]

Very naive of Musk.  He really does not understand our political process, or he would not waste his time.  All his money will not make a 3rd viable political party.  Who is he going after?  What does he hope to accomplish when the two primary political parties are in cahoots with each other.

I'll wait and see what develops. Everyone told him he was stupid to buy Twitter too - But that single action has done more than any other thing to break up the leftist stranglehold on media, and reverse the near universal censorship at work in the American Press.

Between that and his work in DOGE, claims of him being a liberal socialist or liberal-minded will fall on deaf ears. Liberals don't preserve freedom of the press. Liberals don't slash and burn government.

And you better believe he's a threat to the Republican status quo - To include this present administration. And that doesn't make him a liberal either.

[Smokin Joe]

I'll wait and see what develops. Everyone told him he was stupid to buy Twitter too - But that single action has done more than any other thing to break up the leftist stranglehold on media, and reverse the near universal censorship at work in the American Press.

Between that and his work in DOGE, claims of him being a liberal socialist or liberal-minded will fall on deaf ears. Liberals don't preserve freedom of the press. Liberals don't slash and burn government.

And you better believe he's a threat to the Republican status quo - To include this present administration. And that doesn't make him a liberal either.

[jmyrlefuller]

Clearly, he's not in it for the money.  He must actually care about the financial future of this country.

Or he's on another autistic hyperfixation.

[mountaineer]

FWIW:

[Timber Rattler]

Hey all, I understand the passions on both side of this issue, being once caught in the middle myself.  After the 2008 election, I was so disgusted with McCain and the Republican Party (and what they were doing to Sarah Palin), that I quit it and became an independent.  I then embraced the TEA Party movement and hoped, beyond hope, that it would materialize into a true Conservative Party, similar to that in New York State (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conservative_Party_of_New_York_State).  Romney and the GOP-E crushed that hope in 2012 though, and so I wondered in the political wilderness for the next three or four years.  I alternately tried out the national Constitution Party but found that its leadership was spineless, there was no real planning for anything, no resources, and no enthusiasm.  It was mostly, and remains, a debating organization.  I then tried out the Libertarians but quickly found that despite their lip service, they were mostly obsessed by illicit drug legalization, open borders, and no National defense.  So 2015 rolls around and I find myself supporting Ted Cruz for President, and reluctantly rejoin the Republican Party so that I could work and vote for him here in the Pennsylvania primary.  Trump of course beat him, with some ugliness at the Convention and on this board, but I stayed in the GOP since I really had no where else to go.

With all of that said, I'd love to see a real Conservative Party to arise from the ashes of our decrepit, rotten political system.  But it has to be done right, and what Musk is proposing or planning ain't it.  And I don't think he's the one to lead it at all, since he's likely doing this because of a bruised ego and out of spite.  We need someone like Nigel Farage in the UK who has the charisma and political skills to get it done.  But I don't see anybody like that on the horizon.

Just my further .02 on this thing.

[Bigun]

Hey all, I understand the passions on both side of this issue, being once caught in the middle myself.  After the 2008 election, I was so disgusted with McCain and the Republican Party (and what they were doing to Sarah Palin), that I quit it and became an independent.  I then embraced the TEA Party movement and hoped, beyond hope, that it would materialize into a true Conservative Party, similar to that in New York State (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conservative_Party_of_New_York_State).  Romney and the GOP-E crushed that hope in 2012 though, and so I wondered in the political wilderness for the next three or four years.  I alternately tried out the national Constitution Party but found that its leadership was spineless, there was no real planning for anything, no resources, and no enthusiasm.  It was mostly, and remains, a debating organization.  I then tried out the Libertarians but quickly found that despite their lip service, they were mostly obsessed by illicit drug legalization, open borders, and no National defense.  So 2015 rolls around and I find myself supporting Ted Cruz for President, and reluctantly rejoin the Republican Party so that I could work and vote for him here in the Pennsylvania primary.  Trump of course beat him, with some ugliness at the Convention and on this board, but I stayed in the GOP since I really had no where else to go.

With all of that said, I'd love to see a real Conservative Party to arise from the ashes of our decrepit, rotten political system.  But it has to be done right, and what Musk is proposing or planning ain't it.  And I don't think he's the one to lead it at all, since he's likely doing this because of a bruised ego and out of spite.  We need someone like Nigel Farage in the UK who has the charisma and political skills to get it done.  But I don't see anybody like that on the horizon.

Just my further .02 on this thing.

I have made a very similar political journey @Timber Rattler and now realize that our only hope is to make the republican party conservative again from within.

[DefiantMassRINO]

I am happy to announce the formation of the World Dance Party as an alternative to the other parties.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4HaDCkkfzo

[bigheadfred]

I am happy to announce the formation of the World Dance Party as an alternative to the other parties.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4HaDCkkfzo

 

[GtHawk]

Very naive of Musk.  He really does not understand our political process, or he would not waste his time.  All his money will not make a 3rd viable political party.  Who is he going after?  What does he hope to accomplish when the two primary political parties are in cahoots with each other.

So you’re saying that Musk is just like Trump in his first term?

[jafo2010]

roamer_1...

Everyone told him he was stupid to buy Twitter too - But that single action has done more than any other thing to break up the leftist stranglehold on media, and reverse the near universal censorship at work in the American Press.

Yes, Musk buying Twitter opened a window for a different voice than the straight total liberal monopoly on the media.   But really, what percent of the populace visit Twitter?  5% maybe, once a week, once a month?  I don't consider that anything but a window open, and it is open a few inches, not wide open.

The fact is the mainstay in cable TV is Fox News, and they are moving with each passing year to a more liberal format.  The son is not his father, he is a liberal, and his influence is very overt.  That is why I seldom watch Fox, where there was a time that I watched it from 8PM to midnight Mon-Fri.  No longer.   I spend more time at One America News Network, where I believe they seldom spin a story and they report 3x the stories that any other network cover.

Musk buying Twitter was a welcome move, but far from changing things.  The MSM is still the propaganda arm of the Democommies.  They all use the same semantic terms in their speak, every damn day, like they are getting their orders from one source.

[Right_in_Virginia]

https://twitter.com/NotKennyRogers/status/1941896935012470894

[Right_in_Virginia]

Still waiting to see those subsidies, @Right_in_Virginia .  Actual subsides.  Not a repost from the Washington Post repeating the same claim as you without offering any evidence (just like you).

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1813112958157005259

Here is Musk saying we should do away with subsidies.  That is the subsidies that consumers receive.  Tesla doesn't get any direct subsidies.  Neither does SpaceX.  But I suspect you knew that already since you couldn't come up with any.  So now is the time for that integrity check.  Either withdraw your claim, or double down on the lie.  Your choice.

I see you're in the early throes of another bromance @Hoodat   I'll give you the space to settle down.   

[Right_in_Virginia]

FWIW:

[Right_in_Virginia]

https://twitter.com/saras76/status/1941591248415912191

[Sighlass]

I said years ago that I didn't trust Elon to be a face for the party because he has proven over the years he isn't conservative... I say/said the same of Trump. I said the same for Kanye West who was nutty as a Pecan Pie. I said the same on Bruce Jenner (I don't even know his fake name now).

There is disposable faces you can distance yourself from, then there is faces that are so rich/famous that you are stuck with their branding forever.