#24
Why did you get involved in politics / will you keep spending?
Interviews
6
Answers
9
X posts
2
Span
2024 to 2026
First asked Oct 19, 2024, most recently Jul 23, 2026. Excerpts below are from machine transcripts with filler words (um, uh, you know) and stutters removed; … marks a cut. They are not checked word for word, so use the link to hear the exact words, or the transcript link for the raw text. Timestamps: 4 cross-checked against YouTube captions, 5 from the archive transcript only. X has no link-to-time option, so X links open at the start.
How the answer evolved · oldest first
Oct 19, 2024 · America PAC Town Hall: Harrisburg, PA · asked by Audience Member
Q: Because in 2020, Mike Bloomberg, we know, spent a vast amount of money trying to get Biden into the White House. So are you looking into that?
Well, actually, I'm not sure. I mean, the amount of money spent on advertising in the battleground states is truly staggering. And in fact, the Democrats are outspending Republicans dramatically, depending on how you count it. I think it's like two or three times more money is being spent by Democrats and Republicans. And in addition, they have legacy media on this side and they have a whole bunch of Hollywood …
Oct 20, 2024 · America PAC Town Hall: Pittsburgh, PA · asked by Audience
Q: Because AIPAC sends back the money, we send them into the tune of $100 million. How can you fix that for us?
Well, I think we need to look, take a look at all federal expenditures and say all federal expenditures and say, is this really benefiting the American people or is it not? And if it is, well, are we spending it wisely? Usually the answer is no. So then we should spend less money and spend it efficiently. But there's got to be a clear benefit to the American people or we shouldn't be spending money. Eli, I just want …
Oct 20, 2024 · America PAC Town Hall: Pittsburgh, PA · asked by Audience
Q: Second, I just wanted to ask, I wanted to ask you what was the driving problem that got you into politics and what was that breaking point that made you really want to get into politics?
Yeah, well, as I said, I really would prefer not to be in politics at all. And the reason that I have stepped into the political arena this time is because I think the stakes are Extremely fundamental. I think democracy is on the line. I think Constitution's on the line. And I fear that if Trump does not win, we're going to be we're going to have a single party state. It's going to be like California, but actually …
May 20, 2025 · Qatar Economic Forum · asked by Qatar Forum Interviewer
Q: And did it make you regret any of or think twice about your political endeavors?
I did what needed to be done. The violent antibody reaction. And I'm not someone who's ever committed violence. And yet massive violence was committed against my companies. Massive violence was threatened against me. Who are these people? Why would they do that? How wrong can they be? They're on the wrong side of history. And that's an evil thing to do. To go and damage some poor innocent person's car, to threaten …
Nov 30, 2025 · People by WTF · asked by Nikhil Kamath
Q: How many large, really big, profitable businesses have been built in the last few decades without access to politics?
And. Okay, like, I don't know, probably a lot. I don't know. Not everything is politics that. I think when she gets a certain scale, politics finds you. It's quite unpleasant.
Nov 30, 2025 · People by WTF · asked by Nikhil Kamath
Q: Is that how you deal with politics sometimes?
I've generally found that when I get involved in politics, it ends up badly. So then I'm like probably shouldn't do that. I should less of that is my conclusion.
Feb 5, 2026 · Dwarkesh Podcast · asked by Co-interviewer
Q: But also it seems like there was a bunch of heartache and so what's your grading of the whole experience?
Well, I think those things needed to be done to maximize the probability that the future is good. But politics generally is very tribal and it's very tribal and people lose their objectivity. Usually with politics, they generally have trouble seeing the good on the other side or the bad in their own side. That's generally how it goes. That I guess was one of the things that surprised me the most is you often simply …
Jul 23, 2026 · The Economist: Interview with Elon Musk · asked by Zanny Minton Beddoes
Q: So how do you, how do you handle the politics now?
It's exhilarating and terrifying. But if you, honestly, if you ask me, on any given day, in fact, even intraday, I've gone from exhilaration to terror regarding AI. So I want to be clear. I'm not like, I'm not sort of some I'm not trying to be sort of candide here and just be some, oh, everything's wonderful, some Panglossian view of the world where everything's going to be great. No risk. I'm saying there is some …
Jul 23, 2026 · The Economist: Interview with Elon Musk · asked by Zanny Minton Beddoes
Q: Do you think it was a good thing to do?
I think. I think I got a little too involved in politics, got carried away, frankly. So the goal with the sort of Doge stuff was to try to do something about the deficit, which is massive, where the interest payments exceed the amount of money spent on the Department of War. Like, basically, if you add up all the money spent on what is now the Department of War and intelligence in the US that is smaller than the …
In his own posts on X
@elonmusk · Jun 6, 2025
@benruel58 “America Party” has a nice ring to it. The party that actually represents America!
View on X ↗@elonmusk · Jul 5, 2025
By a factor of 2 to 1, you want a new political party and you shall have it! When it comes to bankrupting our country with waste & graft, we live in a one-party system, not a democracy. Today, the America Party is formed to give you back your freedom. https://t.co/9K8AD04QQN
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