Elon Musk and his limitless bank account are getting back into politics.
The multibillionaire is spending $10 million to back pro-Trump businessman Nate Morris in the Kentucky Republican primaries to fill retiring Sen. Mitch McConnell’s seat, according to an Axios report. The donation is reportedly Musk’s biggest single contribution ever to a Senate race.
Morris is an “anti-establishment” Republican who shares Musk’s frustrations with McConnell. He is running on an anti-immigration platform and has already been endorsed by top MAGA figures like Steve Bannon and the late Charlie Kirk. He is also reportedly a good friend of the vice president. Trump himself hasn’t yet weighed in with an endorsement.
Once a Democrat, Elon Musk spent more than $290 million on the 2024 election in support of Republicans, most notably President Donald Trump. The election saw a Republican sweep as the GOP secured the trifecta of the House, Senate, and White House while enjoying the fruits of a conservative Supreme Court. Following Trump’s inauguration, Musk had a significant presence in Trump’s administration, accompanying the President in some public appearances and leading the now-defunct DOGE.
It didn’t take long for Musk to reap what he sowed. It turned out that people hated Musk, even more so than they did Trump, according to public polling in the spring of last year. Protesters around the U.S. and abroad organized action in Tesla dealerships as the company saw its biggest sales decline in history.
Then in April, Musk was handed a major political defeat. In an off-year race, Wisconsin voters turned out in record numbers to vote against the candidate for whom Musk had spent $20 million to buy a seat in office.
“He’s finished, done, gone. He polls terrible. People hate him,” an anonymous GOP operative told Politico last May. “He’d go to Wisconsin thinking he can buy people’s votes, wear the cheese hat, act like a 9-year-old. … It doesn’t work. It’s offensive to people.”
And it did seem like he was done and gone for a while, especially after Musk left the political spotlight following a very public fallout with his former best friend, Trump.
But late last year, he returned to Trump’s periphery. He can be seen flaunting his private dinners with Trump, signing AI deals with the Pentagon, reaffirming his support for Republican super PACs, and actively engaging in foreign affairs.
Now it seems he’s already preparing to shell out big to protect Trump’s power in the upcoming 2026 midterm elections. Musk has told Republicans that he plans to give more, Axios reported. Whether Musk will put the cheese hat back on and hit the campaign trail himself remains to be seen.
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