"A bill that makes slaves to debt"… Musk: "If you vote for Trump's budget bill, I'll campaign against you"

For House members who support Trump's tax cut plan

Announcing plans to campaign against them in the primaries

"Planning to establish a new 'America Party'"

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, on the 30th (local time) called the tax cut bill being pushed through Congress by the Republican Party a "bill that makes America slaves to debt," and announced he would campaign against the lawmakers leading the effort.

On X (formerly Twitter) that day, Musk strongly criticized, "During elections, they say to cut government spending, but now suddenly, every lawmaker supporting the largest ever increase in the budget deficit should be ashamed and hang their heads in shame." He continued, "All of those who are leading this will lose in next year's primaries," adding, "As long as I live, I have no intention of helping them."

Musk directly named certain Republican lawmakers. He questioned Andy Harris (Maryland) and Chip Roy (Texas)—members of the Republican House's hardline conservative group 'Freedom Caucus'—by saying, "If you vote in favor of this bill that most greatly increases the national deficit in history and makes us slaves to debt, how can you call yourselves Freedom Caucus?" In U.S. Congress, a caucus refers to an unofficial group of lawmakers who share similar political leanings.

Last year, Musk demonstrated his significant political influence by supporting the election of then-President Trump. He spent $275 million supporting Trump's campaign and other Republican politicians at that time.

Should Musk actually campaign against these lawmakers, the impact on the House could be more significant than on the Senate. House members must run for elections every two years, whereas Senators are elected for six-year terms. Additionally, the House is based on local districts rather than a nationwide basis, so if Musk pours substantial funds into primary challengers, it could have an even bigger ripple effect.

Musk also floated the idea of launching a new party. He said, "If spending is recklessly increased according to this bill, this country we live in, a 'pig-like mega-single-party' state, will see its deficit balloon to a record $5 trillion." He referred to the situation where both the Republican and Democratic parties pass the tax cut bill together as a single-party state.

He went on to say, "If this reckless spending bill passes, the very next day the 'America Party' will be founded," stressing, "Our country needs an alternative to the Democratic-Republican single-party system. Only then can people have a real voice."

New York = Shinyoung Park, Correspondent, nyusos@hankyung.com