MAD LIB(ERTARIANS)!
Elon Musk is threatening to start a brand new political party. An existing group of outsiders is urging him to join them instead: Libertarians.
- Gazillionaire Elon Musk has all the enthusiasm and ignorance of an arrogant college sophomore who just learned about American politics for the first time… except, of course, unlike that sophomore, he’s also got all the money in the world. That dangerous combo means he’s got the funds to make his loopiest dreams reality. Case in point: Musk injected $250 million of his own cash into the veins of President Donald Trump’s campaign… and once dressed in a yellow foam cheesehead hat to hand out $1 million checks to bolster MAGA voter turnout in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
- But Musk is battling with Trump again, so he’s looking for fresh ideas. He wants to launch the so-called “America Party” immediately after Republicans pass their wildly unpopular “big, beautiful bill,” which Elon totally hates. “Our country needs an alternative to the Democrat-Republican uniparty so that the people actually have a VOICE,” he tweeted. The party would follow in the footsteps of a similar failed effort by late billionaire Ross Perot.
- Many Americans are sick and tired of both parties, and almost 60 percent like the idea of creating a third option. Lower-income Americans increasingly vote for Republicans, even as GOP policies disproportionately benefit the disgustingly wealthy. The two-party system is flawed — but also deeply entrenched. Despite the idea’s popularity, third parties have found it impossible to make headway. In the United States, they’re better known for siphoning off votes from other candidates than they are for winning elections.
- Enter the Libs… and I mean the Libertarians. With an annual budget between $1 million and $3 million, the Libertarian Party’s coffers pale in comparison to the vaults of cash at Musk’s disposal. “If he likes our platform and likes what he sees, I would invite him to maybe become a Libertarian and help influence some races across the country,” Chase Oliver, who ran on the party’s presidential ticket in 2024, told What A Day.
Will Elon Musk decide to bump up the Libertarian Party’s funding by a factor of 100? What would happen if he did?
- Joining a team would have clear benefits for Musk over founding a new one. The Libertarian Party has ballot access in most states, a feat that many other third parties have failed to reach. (It’s worth noting that other third parties, most notably the Green Party, also exist and run candidates for office.) Libertarian National Committee Chair Steven Nekhaila sounds really thirsty for Musk to hop on board.
- “That kind of money … would have been an absolute game changer,” Oliver said. “It would have pretty much guaranteed we got the poll numbers we would need to get into a debate. That kind of cash infusion into an alternative party campaign would be like night and day. You would have had someone else on that debate stage with Joe Biden or Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.”
- Money helps with elections, sure, but it’s not enough for victory — which is why we never had a President Jeb Bush. It’s also possible Musk’s controversial brand could tarnish the Libertarian Party. Musk’s car company, Tesla, saw sales drop 13 percent this quarter, in a fresh sign of just how much many people hate this guy.
- Are the Libertarians planning to sit down with Musk? Not yet… but only because they don’t have his number. “If I had the ability, I absolutely would,” Oliver said. “I don’t know who’s got his number in the Rolodex, but if I can find it and contact him, I would absolutely love to sit down and speak with him.”
Having the world’s richest man on their team would give Libertarians a gold-plated megaphone. The question is how they’d use it.
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