Musk's pullback from politics comes after his last big investment was a flop
MADISON, Wis, May 21, (AP): Wisconsin could go down as billionaire Elon Musk's last big spend on a political campaign. And it was a flop. Musk, the richest person in the world, said Tuesday that he would be spending less on political campaigns. The announcement came as Musk is stepping back from his role in the Trump administration, saying he will spend more time focused on his businesses, and just seven weeks after the candidate he backed in Wisconsin's Supreme Court race lost by 10 percentage points.
Democrats in the swing state said Musk's comments show that a party-led effort in this spring's election, dubbed " People vs. Musk, ' succeeded in making Musk and his money "toxic.' "The people have won,' said Wisconsin Democratic Party Chairman Ben Wikler. "The biggest funder in Republican politics is taking his toys and going home." Brandon Scholz, a retired longtime Republican strategist in the state, said that at least in Wisconsin, "after that court race he deserves to be labeled as toxic.'
But that doesn't mean Musk couldn't spend money on races in the state and nationally again, especially if the stakes are high and his money could make a difference, Scholz said. "Does he bring with him a lot of baggage? Possibly,' Scholz said. "But over time, maybe not as much." Musk's spending in this year's Wisconsin Supreme Court race helped make it the most expensive court race in US history.
And it came just five months after Musk spent at least $250 million to help President Donald Trump win, reversing losses in Wisconsin and other battleground states four years earlier. Musk was all-in on the Wisconsin Supreme Court race, even making a personal appearance in Green Bay the weekend before the election wearing a cheesehead hat - popular with fans of the NFL's Green Bay Packers - and personally handing out checks for $1 million to supporters.
It was an extension of Musk's high-profile role in the presidential race, where he campaigned alongside Trump and headlined some of his own rallies. "It's a super big deal,' he told the roughly 2,000-person crowd in the event center, where hundreds of protesters were rallying against his appearance outside. "I'm not phoning it in. I'm here in person.' But his appearance - and money - didn't work.
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