Tech billionaire Elon Musk has taken a swipe at Republicans following their defeat in the US midterm elections, despite spending hundreds of millions of dollars to support the party’s candidates.
Democrats secured control of both chambers of the United States Congress on Tuesday, winning the Senate and House of Representatives in a major setback for President Donald Trump and his political agenda.
Reacting to the outcome, Musk joked about his involvement in the elections, posting on his social media platform, X: “Guess my election-interfering space lasers didn’t work this time,” alongside a shrug emoji.
Musk reportedly contributed nearly half a billion dollars to Republican political campaigns, making him the largest individual donor in a federal election cycle since unlimited election spending was permitted in 2010, according to campaign finance tracker OpenSecrets.
Much of his financial support went to his Republican-aligned America PAC and the Republican Senate Leadership Fund, a super political action committee.
In September, the Senate Leadership Fund received $158 million from Musk to support Republican candidate Ken Paxton in Texas.
However, Paxton was defeated by Democrat James Talarico, who secured victory in the race, becoming the first Democrat to win statewide office in Texas since 1994.
Talarico also criticised Musk during his victory rally in Austin, highlighting the financial and political influence deployed against his campaign.
“In this race, we went up against our own Goliaths. The richest man in the world, the most powerful man in the world, and the entire Washington, DC establishment,” he said.
Musk’s reaction came after his substantial financial backing of Republican candidates failed to prevent Democrats from making significant gains in Congress.
AFP
