Democrats mobilize to take on Musk after weeks of struggling to find a message

After nearly three weeks in the minority, Democrats have finally settled on a target to rally against: Elon Musk.

After nearly three weeks in the minority, Democrats have finally settled on a target to rally against: Elon Musk. The party and allied groups this week have shown up at the doors of agencies impacted by Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, held rallies and press conferences calling the president’s ally an “unelected billionaire,” and introduced legislation to push back on the administration’s efforts to eliminate agencies and force out federal employees. The coordinated effort comes after weeks of Democrats grappling with how to oppose the new administration after a bruising election in which President Donald Trump made gains with key parts of the Democratic base and Republicans flipped the Senate and held the House. For Democrats, Musk has become both an ideal boogeyman and the face of billionaire influence in the Trump administration. A recent Quinnipiac poll found that 53% of voters disapproved of Musk playing a prominent role in the administration, including 90% of Democrats, 56% of independents and 19% of Republicans. In the weeks leading up to Trump’s inauguration, Democrats mockingly referred to Musk as the president after he helped torpedo a bipartisan spending package while President Joe Biden warned of the “dangerous concentration of power in the hands of a very few ultra-wealthy people” and the beginnings of an oligarchy in the United States. Democrats have also noted that the Tesla CEO – who spent $290 million boosting Trump and other Republicans in the 2024 election – was given a prime seat at the inauguration, along with other billionaires such as Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.