Elon Musk is everywhere at the moment.
The mega billionaire is leading the Trump administration’s DOGE campaign to slash the payroll of the federal government, hawking Teslas to President Donald Trump on the White House lawn and appearing in Democratic ads as the party’s new favorite bogeyman.
In the opening months of Trump’s second term, Democrats are settling on a message – Republicans are looking out for Musk and the mega-rich while ignoring the needs of everyday Americans.
Here’s a look at what Americans are hearing from Democratic ads:
Democratic group House Majority Forward is launching a new Spanish-language attack ad targeting Rep. Monica De La Cruz (R-Texas) over potential Medicaid cuts. The radio ad accuses De La Cruz of supporting the budget resolution “to line the pockets of billionaires like Elon Musk and big corporations.”
The radio ad comes weeks after HMF launched a nationwide TV ad campaign taking aim at vulnerable Republicans on the budget resolution. That large-scale messaging push accused GOP lawmakers of voting “to fund massive tax cuts for Elon Musk and billionaires.”
Unions like the American Federation of Teachers are also getting in on the Musk attack act. A recent ad from the group plays footage of Musk wielding a chainsaw on stage at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).
“The Musk-Trump team is taking a chainsaw to the Department of Education to pay for a tax cut for billionaires,” the ad’s narrator says.
Rolling Sea Action Fund, a Congressional Black Caucus PAC-aligned group, is making Musk a top target too.
“Instead of making things cheaper, Trump has allowed Elon and his billionaire grifter friends to take control of our government,” the ad’s narrator says in a spot, which ran in swing House districts with substantial Black populations. “Trump, Elon and their billionaire friends come first — not you.”
Hill Democrats say they believe the constant focus on Musk will resonate with the electorate.
“Pointing out that Musk is a villain that is plundering taxpayers and corrupting the government is a powerful message because it helps inspire disaffected voters and move independent voters towards our direction,” Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas) said.
DCCC Chair Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.) says Musk is part of the Democratic message, which she hopes can “broadly” capture how the GOP is governing and highlight DOGE.
“There’s nothing efficient about the Department of Government Efficiency right now, so that’s a piece of [our messaging] too,” DelBene told us.
