Former Trump Dozi leader and CEO of Space X wants to build a new political party to challenge the two-party system in America. But even for the wealthiest man in the world, it’s not easy.
“American” Party: Elon Musk announces new political party
Elon Musk announced the “American” party with X. The announcement follows his criticism of President Trump.
WASHINGTON – Money will not be an issue for Elon Musk in his quest to build a new national party.
But even the richest man in the world (sending rocket ships into space and owning his own social media platform) launching a viable third party in the United States is filled with so many challenges that it makes the effort a long shot, according to political scientists, pollers and other experts who have studied the topic.
On July 5th, Musk announced the formation of the “American Party,” supported by his disgust for blowing up President Donald Trump’s debt export, “The Big Beautiful Building.” He argued that both Democrats and Republicans were the same “when it was going to bankrupt our country.”
But declaring the existence of political parties does not unite it.
In addition to the technical hurdles for voting Congress and presidential candidates in the state, the 54-year-old Tesla and SpaceX CEO need to undermine the long history of third-party failures in the United States and his own political position. In a June Reuters/Ipsos poll, only 36% of voters who had positive views on masks nationwide.
“If the goal is to actually get a seat or a few seats, that’s what he’s talking about now – that’s probably something that’s insurmountable,” said Bernard Tamas, a political science professor at Valdosta State University and author of “The End and Rebirth of America’s Third Party.”
Mask To-Do List
Musk, a former top White House adviser who became a fierce Trump enemy, must first check out several logistics boxes to make the American party a reality. It starts with submitting a new party to the Federal Election Commission to raise or spend money that he has not finished. The FEC is unable to take immediate action to formalize the party as there is no quorum on the six-person panel after Trump did not nominate individuals in three vacant seats.
Musk suggests that the focus will be on protecting American party candidates in two or three 2026 Senate races and 8-10 house races. However, for them to gain voting access in the state he is targeting, the parties must meet the required petition threshold.
Election experts say these efforts could face legal challenges if one of the two major political parties views third-party challengers as a threat to strip the vote.
On the other hand, building the party’s infrastructure to fit a well-financed democratic and Republican machines is no easy task.
“This won’t go anywhere.”
Whether musk has the political influence to promote a take-off third-party movement is perhaps the biggest question mark.
Despite his voice opposition to Trump’s rising debt from the megaville, Musk did not vote against the bill by converting Republican lawmakers to his side. It was not Musk who voted against the law that the three Republican senators and two GOP members. Many Republicans in Congress told USA Today they were turned off by a burnt earth attack on masks.
Musk famously flops in April when he inserted himself and millions of dollars into Wisconsin’s special election for a state Supreme Court seat. The Republican candidate lost about 10 percent points despite Musk’s declaration that “the future of America and Western civilization” was in danger.
Musk has no clear political support. And recruiting viable candidates could be a challenge. Already on the left, Mask, who has been undermined by many people, has turned off many of Trump’s Maga bases in a public feud with Trump since leaving the White House as head of government efficiency.
“I’m skeptical that he has the following to do it, and he also has a strategy to do it,” Tamas said. “You have to take advantage of people’s anger. It’s not enough to say, ‘We’re not Democrats or Republicans. Let’s all get along and talk about it.” This won’t go anywhere. ”
“It’s good that he has money,” Tamas added.
Today’s efforts to reach Musk to address skepticism about USA’s third-party aspirations have failed.
Third party votes are not translated into elections
Polls have long suggested that Americans support the US’s strong concept of third parties.
In a Gallup poll conducted in October 2024, 58% of Americans, including 69% of self-explained independent voters, said Democrats and Republicans “do the extremely poor work” that third parties need. It’s down from a record 63% of Americans in 2023, but marks the 12th consecutive year of majority reading about that question.
Similarly, a USA Today/Suffolk University poll conducted over the past decade has seen an increase in support of third parties from Americans who say they don’t vote normally in elections. 57% said the same thing in 2018. 64% in 2023.
Still, third parties were unable to gain traction in elections, both in Congress and in the presidential elections. When it comes to voting, the polls don’t answer common questions – the established loyalty to the two dominant parties has proven to be too strong.
“It was there for quite some time, but its implementation wasn’t,” says David Perelogos, director of the Suffolk University Center for Political Studies, of the disconnect between third parties and support for the concept of election outcomes.
Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Angus King of Maine are both independents, but are Democrats caucus. Other third parties in the United States, including the Libertarians and Greens, have not won seats in Congress.
The last third-party presidential candidate to be a serious threat to the White House was Rospero, who won 19% of the popularity vote in 1992, but has not carried the state at a very important electoral college as an independent running on the “Reform Party” platform.
More recently, consumer activist Ralph Nader ended in the 2000 election with 2.7% of the popularity vote. Democrats remember him with 97,488 votes, who won in Florida, rather than playing the state.
Even progressive parties in the early 20th century (usually considered the most successful third party in US history) were more likely to influence progressive ERA reforms working to improve business monopoly and workers’ rights than winning elections.
After serving as Republican president from 1901 to 1909, Theodore Roosevelt formed the Progressive Party, or the “Bull Moose Party,” in 1912, when he did not win a third-term Republican nomination. His candidacy was a general election won by Democrat Woodrow Wilson, which brought Republican voters to syphilis from party candidate William Howard Tuft. The former president’s new political party was dissolved in 1920.
Trump dispels threats from the mask party
Over the weekend, Trump assaulted his former partner with a mask on a true social post saying that he was “completely off the rails,” and said the third party had “never had success in the US.”
He later dispelled the political challenges the American party could bring when he was asked by a reporter on July 8th if he was concerned about the Musk’s efforts.
“I think it helps us. It will probably help, Trump told reporters at the cabinet meeting on July 8th.” Third parties have always been good for me. I don’t know about Republicans, but for me I don’t know. ”
Trump appeared to refer to liberal academic Cornell West’s independent 2024 presidential run and Jill Stein, who worked to help Trump’s allies boost the states on the battlefield and strip Democrats of votes. But Musk’s party seems better to appeal to Republican voters than Democrats.
A former Trump campaign official told USA Today that the third-party threat from Musk doesn’t appear on the radar in Trump’s orbit, downplaying the push of tech entrepreneurs as something like an online chatter that has not been discussed in the real world.
Still, masked third-party pledges are irritating Musk’s enemies in the Trump world. Steve Bannon, former Chief Strategist of Trump, called the mask “Muscon” and “Elmo the Mook,” echoing the mask’s announcement on the “Warroom” podcast.
“Only foreigners could do this – think about it,” Bannon said, referring to Musk, who was born in South Africa. “Non-Americans starting the American Party”
Musk became a naturalized US citizen in 2002 after previously gaining Canadian citizenship through his mother.
Not long ago, Musk in 2018 described himself as “independent and politically moderate” before beginning to embrace the Trump and the Maga movement during the 2024 campaign, increasing more than $290 million in elections to increase Republican presidential and Republican congressional candidates.
Due to all skepticism about third-party hopes, Musk may do one more thing for him besides his deep pocket as he tries to pull a third-party breakthrough.
The masks have overturned traditional norms in the business world. When he bought Twitter, he quickly fired top executives and thousands of employees. He took the sledgehammer to the federal government during a four-month stint doge. He now appears willing to defeat the same Republican party he supported in the 2024 election.
Perelogos called the mask “his core destroyer.”
“Musk thrives on suspicion,” he said. “And this is the ultimate overcoming the great doubt you can have.”
Reach Joey Garrison with X @joeygarrison.
