Source: Politics<\/p>\n
Elon Musk has been the Democratic Party\u2019s boogeyman since shortly after President Donald Trump deputized him as a top adviser.<\/p>\n
The billionaire and Trump had a very public breakup this week. After Musk called the GOP’s “big beautiful bill”<\/a> a \u201cdisgusting abomination\u201d and threatened to \u201cfire all politicians\u201d who backed it, the president mused<\/a> on Thursday that he didn’t know if the two would still have a “great relationship.” Musk responded on his powerful platform X<\/a>, “Without me, Trump would have lost,” adding “Such ingratitude.”<\/p>\n Democrats’ portrayal of Musk as a chainsaw-wielding, bureaucracy-breaking villain may be more complicated now \u2014 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.<\/p>\n Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), who represents Silicon Valley and has known Musk for over a decade, said Democrats should \u201cbe in a dialogue\u201d with Musk, given their shared opposition to the GOP\u2019s megabill.<\/p>\n \u201cWe should ultimately be trying to convince him that the Democratic Party has more of the values that he agrees with,\u201d Khanna said. \u201cA commitment to science funding, a commitment to clean technology, a commitment to seeing international students like him.\u201d<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n \u201cI’m a believer in redemption, and he is telling the truth about the legislation,\u201d said Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.). But, he added, Musk has \u201cdone an enormous amount of damage\u201d and \u201cthere are Democrats who see his decimation of the federal workforce and the federal government as an unforgivable sin.\u201d<\/p>\n Liam Kerr, co-founder of the group behind the centrist Democrats\u2019 WelcomeFest meeting this week in Washington, said \u201cof course\u201d Democrats should open the door if Musk wants back into the party.<\/p>\n \u201cYou don’t want anyone wildly distorting your politics, which he has a unique capability to do. But it\u2019s a zero-sum game,\u201d Kerr said. \u201cAnything that he does that moves more toward Democrats hurts Republicans.\u201d<\/p>\n Rep. Brad Schneider (D-Ill.), the chair of the New Democrat Coalition who earlier this year supported the party\u2019s targeting of Musk as the Department of Government Efficiency slashed through federal agencies, said that with his departure from Washington, Democrats shouldn\u2019t make Musk their focus. \u201cWe should be talking about what we’re doing for the American people,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Still, Musk recently threatened to cut off the money spigot for Republicans<\/a>. And Democrats would have a lot to gain by merely keeping the world\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n