Elon Musk says he has “done enough” to help MAGA Republicans win elections, signaling a shift in his kingmaker role as Donald Trump’s top campaign backer.

After months of watching his popularity plummet, the DOGE slasher-in-chief said he plans to cut back on funding political campaigns, a move that could dampen the Republicans’ efforts at next year’s midterm elections and in the lead up to the 2028 presidential election.

“I think, in terms of political spending, I’m going to do a lot less in the future,” Musk said, when asked at the Qatar Economic Forum on Tuesday if he would continue spending as much as he has in the past.

  • SoftestSapphic@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    26
    ·
    5 hours ago

    He will fund them through PACs in secret like his peers

    Nothing will meaningfully improve until the rich fear for their lives

  • LupusBlackfur@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    188
    ·
    12 hours ago

    I call Bullshit.

    While Elonazi has gained much in contracts/income from the current “government”, in the process, the rankings of his various “businesses” has tanked.

    Reality is: He’ll take some time off, focus on attempting to restore any good will possible for his businesses, then be right back in the political fray shortly before the midterms.

    Problem with that plan is he’s in no position to regain any so-called “good will” as the Nazi bastard has quite publicly and blatantly revealed much too much about who he actually is.

    Fuck. Elonazi.

    🤡 🖕

  • Lobshta@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    29
    ·
    10 hours ago

    In the days of crypto and tax havens, you really think we can track this? He will still donate millions of dollars, he will just close his big mouth and use workarounds, non-profits and shell corporations to donate and obscure the source. This is all PR.

    • cogman@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      7
      ·
      7 hours ago

      It’ll all be super PAC donations. Because that’s untracked and allows for unlimited donations.

    • Drusas@fedia.io
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      4
      ·
      10 hours ago

      This is very much it. His public statement is a message to those who want his money.

  • jonne@infosec.pub
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    9
    ·
    11 hours ago

    I think he just knows the midterms are going to be a massacre for Republicans no matter how much money they throw at it, so he’s going to sit it out to retain the aura of being a kingmaker. It’s the same thing Rupert Murdoch does, when Liberals/Conservatives/Republicans have no chance of winning in the next election, he’ll suck up to Labour/Labor/Democrats and get concessions from them in exchange for support and to keep the illusion in place that his media empire can make anyone win elections.

    • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      26
      ·
      11 hours ago

      the midterms are going to be a massacre for Republicans

      Democrats are going to walk into 2026 saying “Everyone hates Republicans, ergo we can’t possibly lose” and run some of the most heinous, criminally incompetent campaigns to date.

      • jonne@infosec.pub
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        11 hours ago

        No doubt, but there’s no way they don’t take at least the house back even by doing nothing. At least for midterms candidates can tailor their message more to what people in the district want to hear, instead of having to run on ‘I’ll be exactly like Joe Biden but black’.

    • Hanrahan@slrpnk.net
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      6 hours ago

      the midterms are going to be a massacre for Republicans no matter how much money they throw at it,

      I don’t think that assumption will age well

    • JohnnyFlapHoleSeed@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      6
      ·
      12 hours ago

      Open season at this point. If they got killed tomorrow, who the fuck would actually care? There would be so much in fighting and rats jumping ship, by the time things are over you’d probably end up in Congress

    • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      11 hours ago

      Daddy Drumpf is squeezing him out

      Haven’t seen an iota of evidence to this effect. Let me know when the military stops subsidizing SpaceX and Starlink.

    • Drusas@fedia.io
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      7
      ·
      10 hours ago

      He’s not going anywhere. He already bought his influence. Now he has more leverage over Republicans in advance of the 2026 elections.

  • Coolbeanschilly@lemmy.ca
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    6
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    12 hours ago

    I used to be a fan of Elon and what he was doing with his companies. Then he revealed his true self for all the world to see. Now he’s an ambulate potato, the lesser henchman of a skinless cantaloupe lizard.

    • Auli@lemmy.ca
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      8 minutes ago

      Revealed his true self very early one people just ignored it. Who rewrites the history of a company they purchased to be the founder? That rang bells for me.

    • Em Adespoton@lemmy.ca
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      4
      ·
      9 hours ago

      Like Trump, Musk revealed his personality early on. In the 1990s when Trump was losing his father’s money in casinos, Musk was making his money by using his father’s money to buy profitable dotcom startups and claiming them as his own. Then he sold them before the market crashed.

      SpaceX has been kind of a blip in all this; all his other companies are very much run in the traditional Musk style though, with him taking credit where luck and other people’s hard work are responsible.