Democratic strategist Chai Komanduri said Elon Musk has “taken over” MAGA and the Republican Party.
Musk, the CEO of several companies, including Tesla and SpaceX, is becoming increasingly powerful in Republican politics following his support for President-elect Donald Trump in this year’s presidential election. Musk is regularly seen with Trump and is now considered among his closest allies.
Musk, the owner of social media platform X, has undergone a political shift over the past few years. He supported Democrats as recently as four years ago when he voted for President Joe Biden. He has drifted to Republicans following the COVID-19 pandemic and disagreements with Democrats on issues like free speech, immigration and public health.
Komanduri, a strategist who has worked on several Democratic presidential campaigns and regularly provides political commentary on MSNBC, outlined how Musk has taken over the party during an interview on the network on Friday.
“He has taken over Trump and MAGA and the Republican Party in a manner that is very similar to the way Trump and MAGA took over the Republican Party eight or 10 years ago,” he said.
He described Musk’s takeover as a “very clear investment opportunity.”
“The Republican Party is led by an elderly man who is increasingly deluded, distracted and extremely greedy. He saw an opportunity here, also, with the fact that there is no clear MAGA successor. He said, ‘The Republican Party is here for the taking. I just have to deal with Trump, and then it will be mine,’” he said.
Newsweek reached out to Trump’s transition team via email and Musk via SpaceX and Tesla for comment.
When Trump takes office in January, Musk will lead a new program, the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, alongside businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, who ran in the Republican presidential primary.
In that role, Musk will be tasked with working to slash government waste and other regulations he believes are burdensome and unnecessary.
Reuters reported that Musk gave Trump $75 million to a pro-Trump group in the three months leading up to the election.
Following Trump’s election, Musk has been seen with the president-elect several times, including in Washington, D.C., where he met with Republican members of Congress, sparking speculation about how much influence Musk will have on the incoming administration.
Just this week, Musk was seen in a video posted to social media celebrating Thanksgiving with Trump at Mar-a-Lago.
In a speech earlier in November, Trump said of Musk’s presence: “He likes this place. I can’t get him out of here. He just likes this place.”
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