The phrase “We’ve tried red. We’ve tried blue.” followed by “America is ready for something that actually works” sets up a classic false binary that implies the current system is broken… fair enough political rhetoric. But then he lands on:
“The middle has a voice now.”
Visually, though, it’s doing something else entirely:
The backdrop is a washed-out American flag that is almost bleached, giving it a distinctly “red, white, and blue” aesthetic, but where the “white” is overwhelming.
Elon Musk, whose public politics have dropped the veil and revealed the hard right beneath while branding himself as “centrist” or “anti-woke,” is positioned as the heroic, authoritative figure in front of this. Notice how even his image has a subtle white-wash to it, as if Musk could be any whiter.
The America Party branding echoes third-positionist aesthetics, pretending to transcend left and right while actually pushing a reactionary ideology.
Given Musk’s track record of boosting white nationalist-adjacent accounts, downplaying racism, and framing DEI as a threat, the juxtaposition of “we tried red, we tried blue” with Musk in front of the flag reads very clearly as:
“Let’s try white.”
It’s subtle in the way that a foghorn is subtle. This is political branding that wants plausible deniability while still winking to the base. The whitewashed aesthetic, the idolization of a tech oligarch, the middle-as-myth: it’s all there. We’re not hallucinating it.
The “middle” here is just the same old ethno-nationalist ideology in a new Silicon Valley hoodie.
Who this hurts most: Republicans
Elon Musk, with his “anti-woke,” free speech, anti-DEI, big-tech libertAryanism” shtick, is targeting:
Disaffected Trumpers tired of the chaos,
Young-ish white men radicalized by YouTube, Reddit, or Twitter/X,
Joe Rogan listeners who think the real oppression is being told “Happy Holidays,”
And Silicon Valley techno-libertAryans who think government is just inefficient software.
That is the GOP’s base now.
So if he peels off even 2-5% of them in swing states …think Arizona, Wisconsin, Georgia …that’s catastrophic for Republicans. It’s the same reason Democrats secretly loved Ross Perot in 1992 and why Trump raged about Bernie types in 2020.
What about Democrats?
Democrats aren’t relying on the demographic Musk appeals to. His entire vibe of white, male, aggrieved, anti-government, crypto-bro is the exact opposite of the diverse coalition the Democrats CLAIM to be building. If anything, the more he alienates moderates by platforming white nationalist nonsense or flaming civil rights, the more he boosts Democratic turnout against him and the GOP.
Historical precedent:
Ross Perot (1992): Hurt Bush Sr. far more than Clinton.
Ralph Nader (2000): Hurt Gore, but from the left.
Jill Stein (2016): Same, but damaged Hillary’s left flank (thanks to Russia)
Kanye West (2020): GOP-funded stunt to siphon Black votes from Biden, barely worked, but they still have the fake “#walkaway” movement going
But Musk isn’t coming from the left or center, he’s gunning for the alt-right-adjacent techno-authoritarian lane that overlaps with MAGA and the manosphere.
Bottom line:
If Elon jumps in as an “America Party” candidate or just loudly influences voters to reject both parties, he splits the authoritarian, white grievance vote, not the progressive coalition. That’s a net loss for Republicans.
And just in case you think I am being hyperbolic about the AmericaPartyX/AmericanHistoryX connection, here’s a scene from that movie:
