Elon Musk now considers himself Donald Trump’s political enforcer and has taken to threatening Republicans who oppose Trump doing absolutely whatever he wants.
Since Trump won the 2024 presidential election, MAGA has only grown more and more unhinged. They’re not satisfied that they won or that Republicans control Congress. Instead, they’re increasingly fixated on further elevating Trump’s power, seemingly aiming to establish an oligarchy where Trump, Musk, and their loyalists control the entire country. Trump lost a lot of support in the GOP due to his actions on January 6. Meanwhile, his outrageous cabinet nominees have sparked further pushback from the Republican Party. The dissent not only from Democratic but also several Republican Senators has raised the possibility that some of Trump’s picks, like Pete Hegseth, will not be confirmed by the Senate. The Senate confirming the president’s nominee for high-ranking positions is a process that has been in place for decades and is a vital component of the United States’ system of checks and balances.
However, much of MAGA has been pushing to do away with this process and has begun threatening and attacking GOP Senators who have confirmed they will do their job and properly vet the nominees. They’ve taken to declaring that any Republican who doesn’t automatically, mindlessly agree to everything Trump says is a RINO (Republican In Name Only) and are increasingly pushing to ensure GOP politicians are solely Trump loyalists. Meanwhile, Musk is in on their efforts, as he vows to use his money and power to threaten anyone who stands in Trump’s way.
Elon Musk is coming for Republicans who don’t submit to Trump
Within days of the U.S. presidential election, reports arose that billionaire Musk threatened to fund a primary challenge to any House Republican who didn’t wholly support Trump’s agenda. Musk chillingly confirmed the report, writing, “How else? There is no other way.” Typically, elected officials seeking to run for re-election only face opposition from the opposite party. When someone in their own party challenges them for their seat, it’s called a “primary challenge” or “getting primaried.” The challenge forces a primary election where the official may lose the chance to run for office. So, if Republican elected officials disagree with Trump, they run the risk of facing a primary challenge from a billionaire-backed Trump loyalist and losing their chance to run.
Musk and his DOGE partner, Vivek Ramaswamy, have also threatened Republicans who disagree with their plans to slash government spending with tactics like mass layoffs. Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene warned the pair are composing “a naughty list and a nice list” for all the members of Congress, depending on who votes in support of all their measures. Musk also isn’t the only one threatening GOP officials. Prominent right-wing influencers like Charlie Kirk have also been working on compiling lists of the GOP Senators who they want to be targeted and challenged for not wholly submitting to Trump.
Meanwhile, Musk’s influence shouldn’t be ignored. He has used his billionaire status to sway elections before, such as pouring an astounding $200 million into America PAC. The PAC was aimed at reaching Trump voters in the seven swing states, all of which Trump shockingly managed to sweep. Republicans should be deeply concerned that people within their own party are threatening them unless they agree to everything Trump says. When Kamala Harris was running for President, as much as Democrats wanted to defeat Trump, they didn’t vouch for silencing and threatening every single Democrat who disagreed with something she said. A lot of Democrats voiced their concerns about her stance on Gaza and weren’t afraid to do so.
It doesn’t matter if someone is your party’s presidential candidate or president; you should never be forced to wholly personally agree with everything they say and do. Hopefully, MAGA’s push for conformity backfires. After all, when they start launching their primary challenges, they will do so with the risk of choosing a Republican candidate who can’t win and having the seat go to a Democrat instead.
Published: Dec 10, 2024 03:06 pm