Vice President JD Vance has urged Elon Musk not to pursue the creation of a third political party, arguing that the billionaire would hold more sway by staying aligned with President Donald Trump and the Republican Party’s MAGA movement. Vance made the remarks during an interview on The Ingraham Angle.
“My advice to Elon would be to try to fix the Republican Party. Try to push it in your own way. Disagree with me all you want, disagree with the president of the United States, but don’t pretend that you can make a big difference with a third party,” Vance said on Wednesday, August 20.
“I think Elon would make a much bigger difference if he stayed loyal to President Trump’s Republican Party, and if he had disagreements, express those disagreements from the inside as opposed from the outside,” he added.
Vance’s warning followed reports that Musk has put his plans to launch the America Party on hold in order to refocus on his companies. According to The Wall Street Journal, Musk’s allies noted he hasn’t completely abandoned the idea and could revisit it in the future.
“I do think that it would be a huge mistake for Elon to go forward with a third party, and my argument to him is whether you like it or not, you are now perceived by the far left as on the side of the American right,” Vance told Fox News host Laura Ingraham.
Vance continued, “You believe in law and order, you believe in closed borders, you believe in economic growth and prosperity, you believe in making things in the United States of America. The idea that Elon is ever going to go back to being sort of in the middle, where Democrats and Republicans both like him, that’s just not going to happen. He is perceived as being on the American right.”
Musk’s America PAC spent roughly $300 million during the 2024 election cycle to support Trump and other Republican candidates, according to Reuters. However, the Tesla CEO broke with the president earlier this year over their conflicting views on the so-called “big, beautiful bill.”
