Billionaire Elon Musk has announced the forming of his new America Party. The Big Beautiful Bill – or, for Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), just “The Act” – has passed and been signed into law. Musk and President Donald Trump started off this term seemingly as close friends and colleagues, but the bromance is clearly over. The tech mogul tanked the friendship when he lashed out at the president’s legislative efforts, and now that the package has become law, he’s making good on his promise to start a third party.
Elon Musk and the America Party
“When it comes to bankrupting our country with waste & graft, we live in a one-party system, not a democracy,” Musk declared Saturday, July 5, on X. “Today, the America Party is formed to give you back your freedom.”
Musk was the largest single donor to Trump’s 2024 campaign and, until recently, a close advisor and apparent friend. But the Big Beautiful Bill was more than he could stomach, leading to an online blow-up and a fairly strange feud. President Trump, of course, called the new party ridiculous and said it would sow confusion. “Third parties have never worked, so he can have fun with it – but I think it’s ridiculous,” he explained.
The US has a rich history of third parties vying for power in a two-party system. For better or worse, that brings a rich history of failure on their part, as well. So, what’s one more added to the mix?
The Umpteenth Third Party
Pretty much everyone in America knows about the Democratic Party and the Republican Party, which dominate politics across the country. Then there's the well-known Libertarian and Green Parties. The Constitution Party – a bit less familiar, perhaps – is the only other that’s recognized in more than ten states. That said, if you can’t find the party you like, you can always go shopping, as there are dozens of other ballot-qualified third party options – 55 at the national level as of January 2025, and 238 at the state level – and some of them have some pretty wacky ideas.
In fact, some – especially if we look back through history – are downright hilarious. Liberty Nation News Senior Political Analyst Tim Donner’s personal favorite – at least for a good laugh – is the Rent Is Too Damn High Party. Founded in 2005 by New York’s Jimmy McMillan, this party focused on – you guessed it – the cost of rent in New York City. Sadly, it is no longer a ballot-qualified party in the Empire State, and worse, the rent is, in fact, still too damn high.
There’s the Objectivist Party, based on the politics of Ayn Rand; the United States Pirate Party, which champions online privacy; and the American Vegetarian Party. Try to guess their platform! There are, of course, also parties that are less humorous in nature or name. Consider the Communist Party USA, the Socialist Party USA, and even the American Nazi Party – all active organizations that try to get their candidates elected into decision-making positions!
The oldest third party, in fact, remains active today. Formed in 1869, the Prohibition Party has been trying to kill the buzz for nearly 156 years and still puts forth a presidential candidate every four years.
The Rise of the Two-Party System
For one sweet moment in history, during the reign of President George Washington, America was free of political parties and all the goofy stuff that comes along with them – like voting for people not because of their own beliefs and voting records or backing issue based on their merits, but because the person or issue fits the “party line” of the particular club we decided to align with.
Okay, so that’s not quite true. Yes, the first president was technically nonpartisan. But there were factions in Congress that either supported or opposed his actions. Indeed, before even the ratification of the Constitution, the Founders were divided on how the nation should be structured into the Federalist and Anti-Federalist movements.
By the time the new nation elected its second president, the US found itself well ensconced in the very two-party system so many of the Founders warned against. The Federalist Party rose out of the federalist movement, effectively established by Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison, who wrote the 85 essays collectively known as the Federalist Papers. They believed in a strong, centralized federal government and a robust national economy and a national bank. Opposite them were the Democratic-Republicans, led by Thomas Jefferson and bolstered by Patrick Henry and George Mason. They wanted a weaker, less active national government, leaving more authority to the states, local municipalities, and individual citizens.
John Adams, Washington’s successor, was a Federalist. The next four presidents were Democratic-Republicans. But after the War of 1812, the Federalist party collapsed, and eventually the other side of the spectrum did, as well. By the time John Quincy Adams, president number four and the third Democratic-Republican to take office, was up for re-election, the party had split into the Democratic Party and the National Republican Party. Andrew Jackson was the first Democrat to win the presidency in the election of 1828. The National Republican Party lasted only until 1834 and never saw a candidate take the brass ring, but its remnants joined with the Anti-Masonic Party and some disaffected Democrats to become the Whig Party – the first of a long line of political parties with (at least by today’s standards) amusing names.
It was a tradition that would be later carried on by the also short-lived “Know-Nothing Party.” The Whig Party lasted until the mid-19th century but fell apart mostly due to division over slavery. The Know-Nothings were formally the American Party (hey, that sounds familiar!) and believed that native-born Americans were superior to immigrants. They initially existed as a secret society called the Order of the Star Spangled Banner, whose members took oaths to deny knowledge of the organization. When asked about it, they would famously say they knew nothing – hence the more commonly used nickname.
Just before the Civil War, the Republican Party emerged, supporting an end to slavery in the United States. Since the end of that war, 30 men have held the office – and every one of them has been either a Democrat or Republican.
Some solid efforts have been made by third parties and unaffiliated independent candidates – but, while the main characters in the tale have changed a few times, American politics has pretty much always been a story of one party against the other in a two-party system. Hundreds of others have tried to break the cycle; it doesn’t seem likely Elon Musk will fare much better.
Read more on the topics discussed in this article:
Liberty Vault: The Federalist Papers
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