Democratic Party wins big, Republican financier Musk laughs at himself: Election interference failed

Elon Musk, the world's richest man and an American technology billionaire, posted an article on X on the 4th about the Republican Party's defeat in the U.S. midterm elections. He mocked himself for spending a lot of money to support the Republican Party before the election and it had no effect at all.

The Democratic Party regained control of both houses of the U.S. Congress in the midterm elections on the 3rd. As a result, Republican President Trump may be hampered by Democrats in Congress in the next two years.

"Looks like my 'election interference space laser weapons' didn't work this time," Musk wrote on X, along with a "shrug" emoji.

According to Open Secrets, an independent organization that tracks political donations and campaign funds, Musk spent nearly US$500 million (approximately NT$16.442 billion) in this year’s midterm elections. Not only is he the largest donor to the Republican Party, he is also the largest individual donor to federal-level elections since the United States no longer set limits on campaign spending in 2010.

Musk’s donations mainly go to his pro-Republican America PAC and a super PAC called the Republican Senate Leadership Fund (SLF).

In September this year, SLF used $158 million donated by Musk to campaign for Republican Texas Senate candidate Ken Paxton; however, Paxton lost to Democratic candidate James Talarico in the election on the 3rd. This was the first time a Democrat won state-level office in Texas since 1994.

Talarigg also mentioned Musk at a rally in Austin, Texas after his victory. "We are standing up in this campaign against our (Democrats) Goliaths - the richest man in the world (Musk), the most powerful man in the world (Trump), and the entire Washington establishment."