Trump-Musk rift widens over 'big, beautiful bill': Can Democrats woo President's fired 'first buddy'?
Can Democrats woo Elon Musk?
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Musk attacks Trump's 'big, beautiful' bill
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Tech billionaire Elon Musk stepped up his attacks on President Donald Trump's signature bill on Wednesday with a barrage of posts on X slamming the megabill, saying in one that no one "should be able to stomach it". He instructed his more than 200 million followers to call members of Congress to "KILL the BILL." Musk Wednesday alone has already posted or helped amplify posts on X criticizing the bill more than 25 times. "Mammoth spending bills are bankrupting America! ENOUGH," Musk wrote in one post.In another, Musk was more forceful, writing, "Call your Senator, Call your Congressman, Bankrupting America is NOT ok! KILL the BILL." Musk has said he is stepping away from politics to focus on his businesses. Anthony Scaramucci , founder and CEO of SkyBridge Capital, has suggested Democrats could gain Elon Musk's support by taking a strategic approach: reminding him that a large portion of his customers likely identify as Democrats, and showing openness to some of his ideas, reported Newsweek.Speaking on his podcast The Rest is Politics US, Scaramucci, said it was important to "woo" Musk back after a "cooling off period." Scaramucci was fired by Donald Trump just 10 days into the job as his White House communications director in 2017.He added that Democrats could move to the centre and forgo more left-wing policies to "bring Elon Musk back into the fold as a prodigal son."However, he said it was unlikely Democrats would do so. It would be a coup for Democrats if they could court the influence of the world's richest man once more. Elon Musk, the world's richest private individual, contributed $288 million to Donald Trump's 2024 election campaign, according to public records.However, he has since distanced himself from the Trump administration, voicing opposition to the controversial spending proposal dubbed the 'big, beautiful bill,' and has chosen to reduce his political engagement to concentrate more on his business ventures.On the podcast, Scaramucci outlined the steps he would take to "woo" Musk. He said: "If I were a Democrat I'd be trying to woo him back. I would tell him 'look your customers are primarily Democrats, let's give a cooling off period, come back into the party and help us and lets acknowledge some of the things that you are right about'"."The Democrats are in sore need of a [former president Bill] Clinton-like experience," he continued. "A radical centrist who can come in, help reform the government, lay-off of the hard-left stuff that the country really doesn't like, go for the heartland which was your base."Elon Musk has ramped up his opposition to Donald Trump's One, Big, Beautiful Bill, criticising it in about two dozen posts on his social media platform X in the past 24 hours.The tech billionaire posted on X earlier this week that the bill would add to the US budget deficit and saddle Americans with "crushing" debt. On Tuesday, he described it as a "disgusting abomination", in a widening rift between the two.Musk left the administration abruptly last week after 129 days working to cut costs with his team, known as Doge. The comments mark his first public disagreement with Trump since leaving government, after having previously called the plan "disappointing".White House officials said Donald Trump remains committed to passing his spending and tax bill through the US Senate, despite the increasingly vocal opposition from his billionaire donor.Asked about Musk's comments soon after the first post, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said "the President already knows where Elon Musk stood on this bill". "This is one, big, beautiful bill," she added. "And he's sticking to it."The comments from Musk reflect wider tensions among Republicans over the plan, which faced stiff opposition from different wings of the party as it worked its way through the House.
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