94Ha ViewpointOn July 5, American billionaire Musk announced the establishment of a new political party, the “American Party”, which is independent of the Republican and Democratic parties, and claimed that the party will represent “80% of the middle voters” in American society, aiming at next year’s mid-term congressional elections and striving to gain a seat in the Senate and the House of Representatives.
It is reported that although Musk himself has strong “money ability”, the fundraising ability of the two traditional political parties is also strong. Trump’s ally, venture capitalist James Fishback, has previously announced the establishment of a “super political action committee” to counter Musk’s political influence. Such organizations are usually an important source of “financial assistance” for presidential candidates.
Local time on the 5th, after Musk officially announced the establishment of a new party, Fishback made another move, announcing that his investment company Azoria Partners will postpone the launch of an ETF (Exchange Traded Open Index Fund) linked to Tesla, which was originally scheduled to be issued next week.
Fishback wrote on the social platform X: “Our decision is a direct response to Musk’s announcement of a new national political party, which conflicts with his full-time duties as Tesla’s CEO and distracts his attention and energy from Tesla’s employees and shareholders.”
In addition, Fishback also called on the Tesla board of directors to “meet immediately” so that Musk can “clarify his political ambitions and evaluate whether these ambitions are consistent with his full-time duties as Tesla’s CEO.”
Fishback said that he thought Musk “did too much”, but still hoped that Musk could return his “full attention” to Tesla. If Musk can’t do it, he believes that the Tesla board of directors “will take appropriate action.”
It has been reported that this is the first sign of investors’ dissatisfaction with Musk after he announced the creation of a new party on the 5th.
According to US law, the establishment of a political party eligible to participate in elections requires a complex certification process to confirm its qualifications. First, a caucus or a congress must be held to elect temporary officials and designate the name of the party. It is not clear whether Musk’s “American Party” has started the relevant procedures.
On the afternoon of July 6, local time, when asked about his opinion on the announcement of the establishment of a new political party by American billionaire Musk, US President Trump said that Musk “can have some fun with it”, but he thought it was “absurd”.
In the elections since the founding of the United States, political parties other than the Republican and Democratic parties are not uncommon, and they have had the opportunity to achieve good results, but in recent years, the ability of third-party parties to attract votes in national elections has been very limited.
The Washington Post said that the last time a presidential candidate from a third-party party won electoral votes was in 1968, when five southern states supported the nominee George Wallace of the newly established “American Independent Party”.
Mark McCorkle, a professor at the Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University in the United States who once served as an adviser to the Democratic Party, questioned whether Musk could persevere in creating a new party. “I think this is entirely due to his conflict with Trump, and he is now trying to sink Trump’s (political) assets.”
