- Elon Musk sarcastically posted that his space lasers failed to help Republicans in midterms
- Musk spent about $250 million supporting Republican candidates in the election cycle
- Democrats reclaimed control of both the House and Senate in a major power reversal
Elon Musk has responded to the Democrats' significant gains in the US midterm elections with a dose of sarcasm, joking that his supposed "election-interfering space lasers" had failed to deliver the desired outcome. The billionaire, who poured hundreds of millions of dollars into supporting Republican candidates, made the remark on X after the party suffered major setbacks, including in Texas. His quip was accompanied by another post in which he said, "Data centers in space looking pretty appealing right now."
The remarks came shortly after James Talarico, senator-elect from Texas, launched an attack on both Musk and US President Donald Trump.
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"We were the underdogs in this race... we went up against more than $300 million, more than any Senate campaign in American history; we went up against all of the negative ads, smear campaigns, foreign bots and AI deepfakes that money can buy," the Democrat said in Austin while celebrating his victory.
His victory is one of the most significant because Texas has traditionally been a Republican stronghold.
Talarico talked about "billionaires who own the social media algorithms" in his victory speech, attacking Musk.
He also condemned a Trump-led decade of "politics as bloodsport, "as trolling and owning," and "as professional wrestling".
US networks projected that Democrats would reclaim control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate, marking a major reversal in the balance of power in Washington.
Musk, the world's richest man, had emerged as one of the biggest financial supporters of Republican candidates during the election cycle, spending approximately $250 million to assist the party's congressional campaigns, according to NBC News.
The billionaire's comments are being viewed amidst a growing uncertainty over the future of technology and AI after gains made by the Democrats.
Stock futures fell overnight amid concerns over the implications of the Democratic victories for the technology and data centre boom.
The midterm results have strengthened Democrats' hold on the Congress, allowing them to challenge Trump's legislative agenda.
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