“We will see” and “the last thing we need” are two of the ways Wyoming’s political leaders describe Elon Musk’s announcement he’s going to form a new political party.
Musk, until recently a staunch ally of President Donald Trump, announced his decision to form the America Party on Saturday. He said it wouldappeal to the “80%” of Americans who aren’t represented by either the Democratic or Republican parties.
“Today, the America Party is formed to give you back your freedom,” Musk posted on X.
Wyoming Republican Party Chairman Bryan Miller told Cowboy State Daily on Monday that many third-party initiatives have been attempted without success.
He said Wyoming Republicans are just watching at this point.
“We’ve seen the Tea Party rise and fall not all that long ago, we’ve seen independent candidates impact the outcome of elections but not get elected, and in just the last election cycle, we saw the No Labels Party stand up, again without catching on,” Miller said. “We will see just how far this new effort goes, in time.”
No third-party candidate has ever won the presidency. However, some third-party or independent candidates have been elected to Congress.
Two members of the current Senate — Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Angus King of Maine — are independents but caucus with Democrats.
Winning Isn’t Everything
The American Party may not have to win elections to influence policy and elections, Musk posted on X.
One way to execute the party would be to “laser-focus” on two or three Senate seats and eight to 10 House races, Musk said.
“Given the razor-thin legislative margins, that would be enough to serve as the deciding vote on contentious laws, ensuring that they serve the true will of the people,” Musk added.
Musk will do what he wants, Wyoming Democratic Party Chairman Lucas Fralik told Cowboy State Daily on Monday.
“It's not the business of the Wyoming Democratic Party what he does,” Fralik added.
State Rep. Karlee Provenza, D-Laramie, said she agrees with Musk that the country’s two-party system is broken.
“But the last thing we need is another billionaire masquerading around as though they understand hardworking people or the difficulties faced by our communities,” Provenza said. “Elon Musk has found a dishonest way to spend his billions by buying politicians under the guise of a new political party.”
Musk posted that his new political party is needed to “to fight the Republican/Democrat Uniparty.” His post was made in response to a graph showing that the national debt has risen regardless of which party is in power.
Musk is forming his new party because he’s feuding with President Donald Trump, Provenza continued.
The move comes amid a falling out with Trump over the One Big Beautiful Bill budget legislation that the president signed Friday.
The Congressional Budget Office projects the legislation will increase the national debt by $3.4 trillion over the next 10 years, something Musk, who spearheaded Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, opposes.
“When it comes to bankrupting our country with waste and graft, we live in a one-party system, not a democracy,” Musk continued on X.
White House Warns Of Chaos
The Trump administration disagrees with the CBO estimate, arguing that lowered taxes will result in more economic growth than the CBO is calculating.
Trump has alleged that Musk’s opposition to the legislation is also driven by the removal of subsidies benefiting electric vehicle makers like Tesla. Musk has denied this allegation.
Trump said on his social media platform Truth Social that he was saddened to see Musk “go completely ‘off the rails,’ essentially becoming a TRAIN WRECK over the past five weeks.”
“The one thing Third Parties are good for is the creation of Complete and Total DISRUPTION & CHAOS, and we have enough of that with the Radical Left Democrats, who have lost their confidence and their minds,” Trump continued. “Republicans, on the other hand, are a smooth running ‘machine,’ that just passed the biggest Bill of its kind in the History of our Country.”
Contact Matthew Christian at matthew@cowboystatedaily.com
Matthew Christian can be reached at matthew@cowboystatedaily.com.
