“If this insane spending bill passes, the America Party will be formed the next day. Our country needs an alternative to the Democrat-Republican uniparty so that the people actually have a VOICE,” said Elon Musk in a Monday X post.
As of Wednesday morning, data from the betting site Kalshi showed that there was a 38% chance that multibillionaire entrepreneur Musk would make a third political party in the U.S. this year. However, people betting on the topic might not realize how hard it would be.
Musk began floating the idea of creating a third party in the wake of his public break-up with President Donald Trump over the spending bill Republicans are trying to get through Congress. Musk – who Trump put in charge of the Department of Government Efficiency project to cut government spending – and even some members of the GOP have criticized the bill for adding too much to the federal deficit.
“Is it time to create a new political party in America that actually represents the 80% in the middle?” Musk asked in a June 5 X poll. Results showed that 80% of the respondents agreed. He then agreed with a fan suggestion to call it the America Party, which CBS News noted is similar to his America PAC, a political action committee he used to support Trump’s 2024 run for the White House. CNN said it reached out to the PAC about plans for a third party but that it declined to comment.
Speaking on the subject this week, WCCO News Talk’s Jason DeRusha said that the GOP spending bill leads the current Republican party away from its traditional ideals of small government and lower taxes. At the same time, he doesn’t think Americans really want a third party, even if Gallup polling from last year also showed that 58% of the nation would support having one as of last October.
“America is one of the only countries in the world that has a two-party system,” he said. And there’s a reason we haven’t seen extra parties joining in. And I think the reason is you that you guys don’t want to do the work that it takes to have a third party,” he said. “It is easier to not pay attention to politics, to not get caught up in the drama and just vote for your team.”
That’s not the only hurdle, according to experts cited by CNN this week. They said there are financial, legal and political roadblocks that make creating a third party difficult.
“Third-party movements in the U.S. have generally arisen out of some sort of set of deep-seated grievances,” Emory University political science professor Alan Abramowitz told the outlet. “It was not just some wealthy person who’s decided they wanted to start a third party.”
In fact, he said the way the system is set up with both federal and state regulations almost makes the establishment of successful third parties impossible. One can look to current U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy’s 2024 campaign as an independent as an example.
Although Kennedy had more support than third party candidates usually have, he still struggled to even get his name on ballots in every state. His polling numbers were also generally lower than those of the Republican and Democratic candidates. In the end he called off the campaign and supported Trump.
Lee Goodman, an attorney and former chair of the FEC, also noted that Musk would need thousands of co-donors to fund a third party.
“One very wealthy individual cannot capitalize a new national political party, the way he might start a business, because of federal contribution limits,” Goodman explained to CNN. “The prospect of a wealthy founder seed funding a national party to participate in federal elections around the country is not feasible in the current regulatory system.”
Even if Musk was able to create the party, he wouldn’t be able to run as its presidential candidate, per federal regulations. U.S. presidents must be natural-born citizens and Musk was born in South Africa.
While DeRusha said that people are frustrated with the growing polarization and extreme stances of the Republican and Democratic parties, he still thinks the third-party discussion is “sort of a non-serious conversation.”