Elon Musk told the press in 2025 he planned to spend “a lot less” on politics. His disclosure filings say otherwise: $276 million to Republican groups since July alone. $158 million to the Senate Leadership Fund. $76 million to America PAC. $20 million to the Congressional Leadership Fund. $10 million to get Ken Paxton a Senate seat in Texas. His cycle total is now $366 million, more than the $290 million he spent getting Trump elected in 2024. The man who ran DOGE to slash federal agencies and fire thousands of government workers has a personal political budget that dwarfs the departments he gutted.
Nobody spends $366 million on something they don’t expect a return on. Musk isn’t donating. He’s investing, and the dividend is a Congress that keeps cutting his tax bill and looking the other way while he union-busts his factories. One person outspending the entire Democratic fundraising apparatus and calling it civic participation isn’t democracy. It’s a leveraged buyout.