Elon Musk’s Revenge Campaign

Launching a viable third party in the U.S. is extraordinarily difficult despite vast resources, as Elon Musk's attempt with the America Party shows.

David French highlights several hurdles:

• Third parties struggle to unite a broad coalition, as people agree on dissatisfaction but diverge sharply on specific policies.
• Musk has alienated both major party wings, making him a poor unifying figure.
• Third parties must be strategic and focus on targeted races, like Senate contests, rather than national fame and sweeping campaigns.

French emphasizes the deep problem that the "exhausted majority" exists across ideological lines but lacks common ground beyond shared frustration, making durable platforms hard to form. Musk's approach appears driven more by anger and impulsiveness than by a strategic vision to build stable alternatives.

• David French nearly ran as a 2016 third-party presidential candidate after being recruited by Bill Kristol.
• His brief contemplation revealed practical challenges and factional fractures in forming a third party.

• Elon Musk is uniquely unfit to lead a third party due to alienating both left and right wings.
• His bipartisan revulsion makes him the least appealing unifier for a new political party.