MSNBC’s Katy Tur to Mondaire Jones: Should Democrats Try to Recruit Elon Musk Back into the Fold?

Tur: “So what do the Democrats do with someone like Elon Musk, given how powerful he is? Do they keep trying to push him off to the sidelines given how erratic he is, given his — I mean, there’s been a lot over the past year. Or do they try to recruit him back into the fold? Because, again, that money, with our campaign finance laws, which I think are broken and should be amended, that money really matters. Especially when you have a lot of AI firms now backing — backing prominent Republican races because they think Republicans are going to give them better — a better shot at fewer regulations.”
Jones: “I’m going to respond in a way that isn’t about the money, okay? The Democrats have to be a big-tent party. That means taking in disaffected Republicans, just anyone who understands that what’s happening in this country right now under Donald Trump’s leadership and Republican leadership in Congress is anything but normal. And the way we do that is by bringing in people like Elon Musk and anyone else who would be open to the idea of competent government, of course, building a government that — and an economy that works for everybody, including working people. I mean, that’s the most powerful message for the next, I don’t know, year and some change before the November 2026 elections. We have to be a party that regains the trust of the working people in this country. It is untenable that Republicans are viewed to be better on the economy and for working people or even competitive on that question. That means that we have completely missed the ballgame.”
Tur: “So you’d take him back?”
Jones: “I would take him back, and I would take anyone else of good conscience who wants to do right by the American people.”