World's richest billionaire Elon Musk could be ready to influence future U.S. elections with a promise to create the American Party if the "Big Beautiful Bill" passes in Congress.
While Musk is armed with billions of dollars and has large influence worldwide, he could face an uphill battle with a third party.
What Happened: Musk has been at odds with the Big Beautiful Bill in recent months, creating a falling out of sorts with President Donald Trump and sending shares of Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) lower on several occasions.
Once friends and coworkers in the White House, the battle between Musk and Trump is very public once again with Musk's criticism of the bill backed by Trump that would increase America's debt.
"Anyone who campaigned on the PROISE of REDUCING SPENDING, but continues to vote on the BIGGEST DEBT ceiling increase in HISTORY will see their face on this poster in the primary next year," Musk tweeted with a poster featuring Pinocchio and saying LIAR in big letters.
This tweet from Musk was ran as an ad on the social media platform for some time Monday night, suggesting Musk was spending money to spread the word as the bill made its way through the Senate.
"If this insane spending bill passes, the America Party will be formed the next day. Our country needs an alternative to the Democrat-Republican uniparty so that the people actually have a VOICE," another tweet from Musk said.
The recent tweets from Musk come as Benzinga recently highlighted the potential rise of a third party or independent candidate to win the New York mayor race after Zohran Mamdani won the primary and remains unpopular with many voter groups in America.
Former presidential candidate Andrew Yang established the Forward Party and, according to The Hill, reached out to billionaire Elon Musk as recently as this month to collaborate on a third party.
Yang reached out to Musk at a time when Musk was feuding with President Donald Trump and even polled his X followers to see if a third party that represents those who identify in the middle politically should be launched. Over 5.6 million people voted in the poll, with 80.4% saying yes, although not all the votes were likely from eligible American voters.
What's Next: Musk's previous poll suggests that voters could be ready for another option outside of the Republican and Democratic parties.
It's unclear how far Musk would go with the potential America Party, and if it would be just for Senate and Congressional races in the next elections, or go all the way to the presidency with the billionaire taking on the two major parties that have won every presidential election since 1852.
The last time a president not from the Democratic or Republican Party was in office was 1853 with Millard Fillmore finishing out the rest of his term under the Whig Party. Fillmore replaced Zachary Taylor after his death. Fillmore failed to win the Whig Party nomination for the 1852 election and the party later broke up in 1854.
Taylor won the 1848 presidential election for the Whig Party and is the last presidential winner outside of today's two major political parties.
Since America's independence from Great Britain, the president has come from only five major political parties: Democrat, Republican, Whig, Democratic-Republican and Federalist.
During the first 100 years of America, multiple parties won and parties changed names and new parties were created. Through the lifetime of anyone reading this story, the Democratic and Republican parties have been the only two to win presidencies and many of the major races throughout the country.
Taking a look at past presidential elections, it has been some time since a third-party candidate posed a major challenge. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who was viewed as a potential contender to gain a significant percent of the vote in the 2024 election, eventually dropped out and supported Trump.
George Wallace was the last third-party candidate to receive any electoral college votes, winning five states in the 1968 presidential election.
Ross Perot is the most notable third-party candidate in recent years, placing third in 1992 and 1996 with 18.9% and 8.4% of the vote, respectively. John Anderson also secured a third-place finish with 6.6% of the vote in the 1980 presidential election.
The last third-party candidate to place second in a presidential election was Theodore Roosevelt in 1912. Roosevelt ran as a Progressive and lost to Woodrow Wilson. Roosevelt had previously served as president from 1901 to 1909.
While it remains to be seen if Musk will create a new party, betting odds are rising in support of the billionaire's move.
Polymarket betting odds for Musk to create a new political party by Dec. 31 stand at 43%.
On Kalshi, the odds for Musk creating a new political party this year (2025) stand at 47%, up from just 5% on June 30.
Times have changed since 1853, but Elon Musk's ownership of X and his massive following could ignite a third-party movement — especially with the billions he could pour into an election. Whether he's serious, and whether he can reshape political history for the first time in more than 170 years, remains to be seen.
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