Democrats vow to leave "lunatic" Musk politically homeless
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Elon Musk and President Trump speak to reporters in the Oval Office on May 30. Photo: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
Democrats are making clear Elon Musk has no place in their party as the billionaire former DOGE head quickly becomes persona non grata among Republicans.
Why it matters: While Democrats are basking in Musk's open break with President Trump, they see little political value — and potentially great risk — in actually embracing him as an ally.
- "Welcoming Musk back into the party would be Democrats shooing more working class voters away from the party," said Progressive Caucus chair Greg Casar (D-Texas).
- "Clearly calling out billionaire villains like Elon Musk works for us, and we should keep on doing what works."
Driving the news: Musk has abruptly tanked his standing in the GOP by going full bore against Trump and his "One Big, Beautiful Bill."
- In posts on X this week, Musk called Trump's marquee legislation
a "disgusting abomination" and claimed the president has suppressed the Epstein files because he is in them. - He even went as far as to express agreement with a post calling for Trump to be impeached and removed so Vice President JD Vance can take his place.
What they're saying: "We'll agree with him on some of the things he's saying, but embracing him is pretty out of the question. He's a lunatic," Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) told Axios.
- "I don't give a sh*t about Elon Musk," said Rep. Scott Peters (D-Calif.). "I just don't. We've got real problems."
- "Personally, I don't associate myself with someone who does Nazi salutes in public," said Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.).
- Said Rep. George Latimer (D-N.Y.): "If Elon Musk ... is going to have the same basic ideas, which is that everything [in the federal government] sucks and has to be killed, then I can't endorse that."
The intrigue: Even Democrats who have previously expressed some affinity for Musk said their party should keep him at arm's length even if they echo his criticisms of Trump and the budget reconciliation bill.
- Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) said Democrats should "engage in every asset we have as a check on Donald Trump" but that Musk "has to be held accountable" for his work at DOGE.
- Khanna added that Musk should "absolutely not" be given a role in the Democratic Party parallel to the prominence he had in Trump's orbit: "There's zero way in terms of him being a figurehead."
- "His decimation of the federal government was an unforgivable sin," Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) said, adding that Musk is also "so erratic and so mercurial as to be unreliable, just like Donald Trump."
Democratic Party leaders are keeping their cards closer to their chest, though House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) offered some signals about where he stands during a Friday press conference.
- Musk, he said, "helped put [Trump] into the White House," arguing that Trump "might not be the president of the United States ... without the hundreds of millions spent."
- Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), asked about some Democrats saying the party should embrace Musk, told Axios: "I have not heard that."
The bottom line: "He doesn’t need to come back into our fold, if he ends up being a spoiler on their end, that ends up helping us," said Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.).
- "Funding primary challengers in certain races. That would be a real headache for Mike Johnson."
A Musk spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.
