Musk wants a new political party. This could be the moment for it to work. | Opinion
Elon Musk's intervention should wake up the major party leaders to the fact Americans are sick of the status quo.
Elon Musk celebrated the birthday of America by launching a new political party: the “America Party.”
“When it comes to bankrupting our country with waste & graft, we live in a one-party system, not a democracy,” Musk wrote July 5 on X, which he owns. “Today, the America Party is formed to give you back your freedom.”
Musk is perturbed at President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which Trump signed into law July 4, Friday.
The new law cements the 2017 tax cuts while adding $3.4 trillion to the national debt over 10 years, according to an estimate from the Congressional Budget Office.
Musk has good reason to be upset. The Tesla and SpaceX CEO spent close to $300 million to help get Trump and other Republicans elected in 2024. And he spent the first few months of this year working to slash the sprawling government bureaucracy through DOGE (the Department of Government Efficiency), which led to angry liberals torching Teslas.
As it became clear to Musk that Trump was not the serious budget hawk he had hoped for, the bromance deteriorated into a brawl.
Thus, Musk’s decision to start a party of his own.
Is America ready for a robust third party?
Musk may be gung ho about his latest foray into the political realm. And as the world’s richest man, he’s got the money to put behind it.
But is America ready for a serious third party? In recent years, polls show that Americans are increasingly fed up with the two major parties.
A 2024 Gallup survey found more voters identifying as independent, and the percentages of those who identified as Democrats and Republicans declined. Only 27% claimed to be Democrat, which was a tie with those who said they were Republican.
Independents, on the other hand, have continued to grow in number, with 43% identifying that way – a tie with a record reached in 2014.
A recent poll from Quantus Insights of registered voters found that 40% say they’d consider backing Musk’s party – and that includes many Republican voters. Democrats seem less enthusiastic, but that’s likely because of how they feel about Musk’s collaboration with Trump (before their breakup).
In a Substack post, Quantus cofounder Jason Corley observed, “The signal is clear: a large slice of the electorate is open to something new, something disruptive. This is not about Musk. It’s about the growing sense that the existing order is failing to represent the country as it truly is, or wants to be.”
Now, when it comes to actually voting, Americans have traditionally thrown their independence aside and stuck with one of the major party candidates. Even in 2024, when voters expressed real dismay with a rematch between then-President Joe Biden and Trump, third-party efforts like No Labels fizzled.
2026 will be a test for third-party candidates
I have no doubt that Musk will try his darndest to get the America Party off the ground, and the 2026 midterm elections will be a real test to see what’s possible.
Other candidates are already forging ahead apart from the two-party system. One race to watch is the bid for governor in Michigan, a key presidential battleground state.
Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan – a steadfast Democrat – surprised a lot of people in December when he announced he’d be running as an independent to replace term-limited Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
“Every place I go, the depth of anger at the two parties runs deep,” Duggan told NBC News.
It's true. There’s dissatisfaction with Republicans and Democrats alike. As both parties move to the extremes, a lot of people in the middle feel they don't have a political home.
If nothing else, Musk’s intervention should wake up the major party leaders to the fact Americans are sick of the status quo.
That would be a win.
Ingrid Jacques is a columnist at Paste BN. Contact her at ijacques@usatoday.com or on X, formerly Twitter: @Ingrid_Jacques