Trump Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent knocks Elon Musk's new political party
Asked about Musk's move, Bessent told CNN's Dana Bash that the ideas behind the administration's Department of Government Efficiency effort, also known as DOGE, were "very popular."
But "I think if you looked at the polling, Elon was not," Bessent said of the president's former advisor who led the White House's effort to slash the size of the federal government.
On July 5, Musk announced he would be forming a new political party amid frustration with President Donald Trump's sweeping tax policy bill, which is expected to add at least $3.3 trillion to the federal deficit in the next ten years.
"I believe that the boards of directors at his various companies wanted him to come back and run those companies, which he is better at than anyone," Bessent said of Musk's departure from the federal government.
"So I imagine that those boards of directors did not like this announcement yesterday and will be encouraging him to focus on his business activities, not his political activities," he added.
A Quinnipiac University poll released last month found that 30% of American voters said they have a favorable opinion of Musk. Sixty-two percent of Republicans backed the billionaire, but that was down from 78% in the university's March survey.
Bessent and Musk repeatedly clashed during the billionaire's time in the administration, culminating in Bessent calling Musk a "fraud" and Musk throwing his shoulder into Bessent's rib cage in the White House, setting off a "scrum" between the two, according to multiple reports.
Musk and Trump, too, have feuded in recent weeks. Musk has been critical of Trump and congressional Republicans' efforts to pass the sweeping tax bill, arguing that it is reckless to saddle the country with so much additional debt. GOP leaders have contended that the bill will spur economic growth.
Trump signed the bill into law on July 4. The Tesla and SpaceX CEO shared on X the next day that he was starting the "America Party," though the party's broader beliefs weren't immediately clear.
"When it comes to bankrupting our country with waste & graft, we live in a one-party system, not a democracy," Musk said on X on July 5. "Today, the America Party is formed to give you back your freedom."
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Experts would be needed to navigate each state's election laws and political systems in order to identify and nominate promising candidates, and canvassers would have to gather thousands to tens of thousands of signatures for each candidate to get them on the ballot. Traditionally, candidates and their parties spearhead these operations, working together to strategize signature-gathering, voter registration, and campaign fundraising and spending. But Musk's America Party is unlikely to become a certified political party anytime soon, because the Federal Election Commission, which reviews political organizations' qualification as political parties, has not been in quorum to do so since a commissioner resigned in April, leaving the agency with just three commissioners. FEC commissioners can only be appointed by President Trump himself. 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Joining forces Additionally, Musk could enlist the help of existing third parties, like the Libertarian Party or the Green Party. However, third parties historically have had little success in gaining office in the United States. During the 2024 election, the centrist group No Labels led a third-party presidential movement but ended its efforts months before the Republican and Democratic national conventions, after failing to find their candidate before their self-imposed deadline. Longstanding Libertarian Party nominee Chase Oliver ran in the 2024 presidential race but received less than 0.5% of the total vote. Still, a possible collaboration could be in the works: Musk has been in touch with one-time Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang, who in recent days has spearheaded a third party centrist effort of his own, a source familiar with the matter confirmed to ABC News. 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