Musk jokes about election loss after spending record sums

Updated / Wednesday, 4 Nov 2026 08:48

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Tech billionaire Elon Musk has joked about Republicans' defeat in US midterm elections after spending hundreds of millions of dollars to help the party.

Democrats seized control of the US Congress last night, capturing both the Senate and House of Representatives in a stunning rejection of President Donald Trump's political agenda.

"Guess my election-interfering space lasers didn't work this time," Mr Musk said on X, including the shrug emoji.

Mr Musk contributed nearly half a billion dollars to Republican political efforts, making him the largest individual contributor in a federal election cycle since unlimited election spending was allowed in 2010, according to campaign finance tracker OpenSecrets.

His donations have mostly gone to his Republican-leaning America PAC, as well as to the Republican Senate Leadership Fund super PAC.

The SLF used Musk's $158 million in donations in September to support Ken Paxton, the Republican Senate candidate in Texas.

Democrat James Talarico defeated Mr Paxton, a close ally of Mr Trump, to become the first Democrat to win statewide office in Texas since 1994.

Mr Talarico took aim at Musk at a victory rally in Austin.

"In this race, we went up against our own Goliaths. The richest man in the world, the most powerful man in the world and the entire Washington, DC establishment," he said.