“Today, the America Party is formed to give you back your freedom.”
Musk cited a poll – posted on X on July 4, US Independence Day – in which he asked whether respondents “want independence from the two-party (some would say uniparty) system” that has dominated US politics for some two centuries.
The yes-or-no survey earned more than 1.2 million responses.
“By a factor of 2 to 1, you want a new political party and you shall have it!” Musk posted.
He also shared a meme depicting a two-headed snake and the caption “End the Uniparty”.
‘Laser focus’ on vulnerable lawmakers
It is not clear how much impact the new party would have on the 2026 mid-term elections, or on the presidential vote two years after that.
The Trump-Musk feud reignited in dramatic fashion late last month as Trump pushed Republicans in Congress to ram through his massive domestic agenda in the form of the One Big Beautiful Bill.
Musk expressed fierce opposition to the legislation and ruthlessly attacked its Republican backers for supporting “debt slavery”.
He quickly vowed to launch a new political party to challenge lawmakers who campaigned on reduced federal spending only to vote for the bill, which experts say will pile an extra US$3.4 trillion ($5.6t) over a decade on to the US deficit.
After Musk heavily criticised the flagship spending bill – which eventually passed Congress and was signed into law – Trump threatened to deport the tech tycoon and strip federal funds from his businesses.
“We’ll have to take a look,” the President told reporters when asked if he would consider deporting Musk, who was born in South Africa and has held US citizenship since 2002.
On Friday (local time), after posting the poll, Musk laid out a possible political battle plan to pick off vulnerable House and Senate seats and become “the deciding vote” on key legislation.
“One way to execute on this would be to laser-focus on just 2 or 3 Senate seats and 8 to 10 House districts,” Musk posted on X.
All 435 US House seats are up for grabs every two years, while about a third of the Senate’s 100 members, who serve six-year terms, are elected every two years.
Some observers were quick to point out how third-party campaigns have historically split the vote – as businessman Ross Perot’s independent presidential run in 1992 did when it helped doom George H.W. Bush’s re-election bid, resulting in Democrat Bill Clinton’s victory.
“You are pulling a Ross Perot, and I don’t like it,” one X user wrote to Musk.
– Agence France-Presse
