Americans are hungry for a third party — but not one created by Elon Musk
AP Photo/Matt Rourke
- Several new polls suggest that Elon Musk is repelling potential third-party voters.
- While many Americans are open to a third party, far fewer are interested in one created by Musk.
- The polling also found that Musk's party would draw more support from the GOP than the Democrats.
People have complained about America's two-party system for decades, and many voters say they would consider supporting a third party — as long as Elon Musk wasn't involved.
New polling suggests that potential third-party voters aren't interested in what Musk's "America Party" may be offering, and the Tesla CEO might be the problem.
Three polls released this week found the same general pattern.
According to YouGov, 45% of Americans believe a third party is necessary, but just 11% would consider joining a Musk-founded party.
Per Quinnipiac University, 49% of Americans say they would consider joining a third party, while just 17% say they're interested in one created by Musk.
A CNN poll found that 63% of Americans would favor a third party, a figure that drops to just 25% when Musk is involved.
All three polls included more than 1,000 respondents and were conducted in early to mid-July.
The aversion to Musk-led party may be driven in part by independent voters, according to Quinnipiac. 75% of independents say they would consider joining a third party, a figure that drops to just 22% when the question is about a Musk-formed party.
It's also driven by Democratic-leaning voters' distaste for Musk, whose past political alliance with President Donald Trump and creation of DOGE sharply polarized the left against him.
According to Quinnipac, 39% of registered Democrats say they would consider joining a third party, while just 6% are interested in Musk's hypothetical party.
That also indicates that a Musk-created party would draw more from the right than the left. YouGov found a similar pattern to Quinnipiac, with 15% of Republicans saying they'd consider supporting a Musk-founded third party while just 6% of Democrats said the same.
The world's richest man first floated the idea of forming a third party as Republicans in Congress worked to pass the "Big Beautiful Bill," a sprawling piece of legislation at the center of Trump's domestic agenda. Musk objected to the bill's impact on the deficit, as well as the scaling back of renewable energy subsidies and tax credits.
Weeks after his relationship with Trump exploded in an epic feud and after the bill made it to Trump's desk, Musk declared that he would move forward with forming the party.
It's been about two weeks since then, and Musk has yet to take more formal steps to actually establish a new political party.
It also remains unclear exactly what the party's platform would be, though deficit reduction would likely be a key focus.