“Democrats say sweeping government cuts led by Elon Musk have started to awaken a latent opposition to President Donald Trump — and they’re hoping it will motivate a slew of new down-ballot candidates to run in the years ahead,” Politico reports.
“Early interest in running for office is already beginning to rise — at least one major candidate recruitment organization saw a sharp spike of more than 2,000 new applications pouring in as Musk issued major actions pushing federal workers out. A lot of that web traffic came from Reddit threads of former federal employees considering runs for political office that sprang up last week.”
Democrats are portraying Musk as an unelected oligarch undermining the Constitution and exploiting taxpayers
- Protests have erupted outside government offices, with demonstrators carrying signs saying “Nobody elected Elon!”
- Democratic lawmakers from both progressive and moderate factions are uniting in their criticism of Musk
- The party is shifting its focus from Trump to Musk as a more accessible and politically vulnerable target
As the 2026 and 2028 elections approach, Democrats are likely to continue framing Musk as a threat to democracy and workers’ rights, use the backlash against Musk to energize their base and attract new supporters, and develop strategies to confront and reduce Musk’s influence in government.