Democrats eye a villain-to-ally arc for Elon Musk
Elon Musk has been the Democratic Party's boogeyman since shortly after President Donald Trump deputized him as a top adviser.
The billionaire and Trump had a very public breakup this week. After Musk called the GOP's "big beautiful bill" a 'disgusting abomination' and threatened to 'fire all politicians' who backed it, the president mused on Thursday that he didn't know if the two would still have a "great relationship." Musk responded on his powerful platform X, "Without me, Trump would have lost," adding "Such ingratitude."
Democrats' portrayal of Musk as a chainsaw-wielding, bureaucracy-breaking villain may be more complicated now — with some saying they should give him another chance. After all, Musk said he voted for former President Joe Biden in 2020 and gave a tour of SpaceX to then-President Barack Obama.
Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), who represents Silicon Valley and has known Musk for over a decade, said Democrats should 'be in a dialogue' with Musk, given their shared opposition to the GOP's megabill.
'We should ultimately be trying to convince him that the Democratic Party has more of the values that he agrees with,' Khanna said. 'A commitment to science funding, a commitment to clean technology, a commitment to seeing international students like him.'
Other Democrats are warming back up to Musk as he leaves the White House and starts to break with his former boss in ways that could benefit the opposition.
'I'm a believer in redemption, and he is telling the truth about the legislation,' said Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.). But, he added, Musk has 'done an enormous amount of damage' and 'there are Democrats who see his decimation of the federal workforce and the federal government as an unforgivable sin.'
Liam Kerr, co-founder of the group behind the centrist Democrats' WelcomeFest meeting this week in Washington, said 'of course' Democrats should open the door if Musk wants back into the party.
'You don't want anyone wildly distorting your politics, which he has a unique capability to do. But it's a zero-sum game,' Kerr said. 'Anything that he does that moves more toward Democrats hurts Republicans.'
Rep. Brad Schneider (D-Ill.), the chair of the New Democrat Coalition who earlier this year supported the party's targeting of Musk as the Department of Government Efficiency slashed through federal agencies, said that with his departure from Washington, Democrats shouldn't make Musk their focus. 'We should be talking about what we're doing for the American people,' he said.
Still, Musk recently threatened to cut off the money spigot for Republicans. And Democrats would have a lot to gain by merely keeping the world's richest man on the sidelines in the midterm elections and beyond. If Musk makes a mess of GOP primaries, that would work in their favor, too.
But Musk's recent heel-turn also risks reopening a divide between progressives and moderates over how to approach him and other billionaires.
'Our caucus has done the right thing and gone toe-to-toe against Musk,' said Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas), chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and one of the party's most vocal advocates for making Musk an antagonist on the campaign trail.
Others are taking a wait-and-see approach. 'I don't think we should take one ketamine-fueled tweet as evidence of a change of heart,' said Matt Bennett, co-founder of the center-left group Third Way. 'It's more complicated.'
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