Elon Musk donated $5 million to Thune's super PAC and then immediately started trashing him online for not ramming through a voter-ID bill that doesn't even have the votes to pass.
Musk's obsessive SAVE Act campaign
Musk's obsessive SAVE Act campaign
- Elon Musk posted about the SAVE America Act over 100 times this year.
- He called failure to pass it "high treason" against Americans.
- Musk urged his 237 million followers to flood Thune's offices.
- His crusade is fueled by debunked noncitizen-voting conspiracy theories.
- John Thune lacks the 60 votes needed to beat a filibuster.
- He refuses to nuke filibuster rules for a party-line vote.
- Thune has complained about paid influencers pressuring the Senate.
- Not enough Republican senators would support the nuclear option anyway.
- Musk and Thune toured a Tesla factory together in January.
- Five days later, Musk started amplifying attacks on Thune online.
- He reposted messages calling Thune corrupt and spineless.
- They haven't spoken since that January factory visit.
- He bankrolled Republicans massively during the 2024 election cycle.
- Musk quit the party last year and floated a third-party idea.
- He quietly rekindled ties with Trump by the fall afterward.
- Midterm spending may hinge on how senators vote on this bill.
