Elon Musk responds to Republican loss: ‘Lasers didn't work’
Musk invests hundreds of millions in Republican campaigns, but sees Talarico Texas win. He responds to X with a striking sarcastic joke.
Elon Musk has spent hundreds of millions of dollars helping Republicans in the US midterm elections. Especially in Texas, the billionaire went to great lengths to prevent a Democratic victory. But the money was of no use.
The Republicans lost their majority in Congress and in Texas Democrat James Talarico won a historic Senate race. Musk responded to X this morning with a striking joke.
Musk was one of the Republicans' most important financial pillars. According to an analysis of campaign data by The Guardian, the Tesla CEO invested at least $446 million in political organizations supporting the party.
A large part of this went to his own organization America PAC, which tried to get Republican voters to the ballot box with advertisements and campaigns.
Texas in particular received a lot of attention. That's where Republican Ken Paxton took on Democrat James Talarico, who had a shot at a historic victory in the traditional Republican state.
According to Business Insider, about $224 million in Musk's political support went to Republican campaigns in Texas, including the fight against Talarico. That money was used, among other things, for advertisements to help Paxton and attack his Democratic opponent.
Still, Talarico pulled out on the longest end. He defeated Paxton, becoming the first Democrat since 1988 to win a Texas Senate election.
After the election results, Musk made his voice heard this morning on his own platform X. Instead of extensively discussing the defeat of the Republicans, he opted for humor.
“Apparently, my space lasers to influence elections didn't work this time,” he wrote.
Musk thus sarcastically refers to accusations and conspiracy theories about his alleged influence on US elections. There is no evidence that he manipulated election results with satellites or lasers.
The Democratic majority can have serious consequences for Musk's companies. The party gains more influence over the committees that supervise, among other things, government contracts and technology companies. Democratic politicians have previously insisted on investigating Musk's business interests and his ties to the Trump administration.