Billionaire businessman Elon Musk has mocked the Republican Party following its defeat in the US midterm elections, despite reportedly spending nearly half a billion dollars supporting the party’s political campaigns.
Musk made the remark on Wednesday after Democrats secured control of both chambers of Congress in Tuesday’s elections, dealing a major setback to President Donald Trump’s political agenda.
Reacting to the outcome in a post on X, the Tesla and SpaceX chief joked about allegations that he had interfered in elections through his financial and political influence.
“Guess my election-interfering space lasers didn’t work this time,” he wrote, adding a shrug emoji.
According to campaign finance tracker OpenSecrets, Musk contributed nearly $500m to Republican political efforts, making him the largest individual contributor in a federal election cycle since unlimited election spending was allowed in 2010.
Much of the funding reportedly went to his Republican-leaning America PAC and the Republican Senate Leadership Fund, a political action committee supporting Republican Senate candidates.
Among the beneficiaries was Texas Republican Senate candidate Ken Paxton, whose campaign received support backed by $158m in donations from Musk to the Senate Leadership Fund in September.
However, Paxton lost to Democrat James Talarico, who became the first Democrat to win statewide office in Texas since 1994.
Speaking at his victory rally in Austin, Talarico referred to the influence of wealthy and powerful figures during the campaign, including Musk and Trump.
“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.
The Democratic victories in the House and Senate represent a major setback for Republicans and raise questions about the influence of money and high-profile political endorsements in the elections.
Musk’s reaction came as Trump also faced questions over the party’s performance, with the president arguing that Republican candidates had failed to inspire enough of his supporters to vote.
