Musk's Third-Party Ambitions Have a Surprising Champion
Elon Musk has a not-so-new idea for righting American politics following his spectacular falling out with President Donald Trump: establishing a new political party.
Being Musk, he put it to a poll on X, asking his followers, 'Is it time to create a new political party in America that actually represents the 80% in the middle?' 5.6 million accounts voted, with 80 percent agreeing that, yes, it was time.
Musk followed up with a proposed name for the new party: America Party, which is reminiscent of the name of his super PAC, America PAC.
Andrew Yang also agreed. The former 2020 Democratic presidential candidate and founder of the Forward Party, a centrist political party, explained to Politico that he has reached out to the Tesla CEO with a proposal to build a third party together.
While he hasn't heard back from Musk, Yang told Politico that he's optimistic, adding, 'Elon has built world-class companies from nothing more than an idea multiple times, and in this instance, you have the vast majority of Americans who are hungry for a new approach.'
'I'm happy to spell it out for Elon or anyone else who wants to head down this road: A third party can succeed very quickly,' he added.
Yang also shared that some of the pair's mutual friends were working to connect them.
In 2019, prior to his descent into Trump's orbit, Musk endorsed Yang during his presidential campaign, based at least partly on their shared desire to implement a Universal Basic Income (UBI).
A UBI of $1,000 a month for all American citizens over the age of 18 was a key policy in Yang's campaign platform, and in 2016, Musk told CNBC, 'There is a pretty good chance we end up with a universal basic income, or something like that, due to automation. Yeah, I am not sure what else one would do. I think that is what would happen.'
In his interview with Politico, Yang acknowledged that he doesn't agree with Musk on everything, but argued that. 'America's political system has gone from dysfunctional to polarizing to even worse.' Considering the 'fastest growing political movement in the United States is independents' who don't feel represented by either party, change is needed, he said.
Dodging questions from Politico about whether Musk's actions under Trump would make it difficult for anyone from the center-left to work with him, Yang said, 'I'm someone who tends to judge people by their actions more than anything else. And Elon Musk has done more for sustainability on this planet than virtually any other human, and that's something that I think is incredibly estimable and admirable.'
Yang noted Musk's interest in sustainability in courting the billionaire for his effort to launch a third party.
'Elon, the political class will never get serious about putting America on a path to sustainability, and you've seen it up close. You know that if it's going to happen, it's going to be from some new force in American politics,' Yang said. 'Help us build it.'
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