Pressure builds for Musk to ditch third party in favor of backing Convention of States

Elon Musk's decision to create a third party has roiled the political landscape, but pressure is building on the right to push the billionaire entrepreneur toward a different path to achieving greater spending cuts: embracing the Convention of the States movement.

Musk launched the America Party over the Fourth of July holiday after the passage of President Donald Trump's One Big, Beautiful Bill Act, arguing that the Democratic and Republican parties are bankrupting America.

But since then, political figures like the Daily Wire's Ben Shapiro and Fox News' Mark Levin have floated the idea of Musk redirecting his ambition into pursuing a convention of states, a vehicle the Founders created in the Constitution.

"I want to float another idea that Ben Shapiro, myself, Mark Levin...good friends of mine have been talking about the last couple of days," Just the News founder John Solomon said on the "Just the News, No Noise" TV show on Tuesday.

"Rather than Elon Musk go out and create a third party, which will only, as history has shown, split the vote, probably let Democrats win, even with pluralities in some districts...a better option for Elon Musk would be to put his money and his effort behind the Convention of the States [which is] the effort by states to call a constitutional convention, and for the first time since the founding of this country, rein in the central government with the power our founding fathers gave us in federalism."

The Convention of States is a movement that calls for a convention under Article V of the United States Constitution to limit the power of the federal government and give term limits to members of Congress.

So far, 19 states have called for a convention, which is over half needed to begin the process. Thirty-four states total are needed. 

“Of course, we would love to have a huge public figure like Elon behind our movement,” Convention of States Action President Mark Meckler told Just the News in a statement, adding that there is a structuring problem in Washington, D.C., and that Musk is noticing. 

Meckler was also the co-founder of the Tea Party Patriots in 2012, a group that advocated for limited government and to get spending under control. Meckler told Just the News that for years, he tried to change D.C. from the inside, but realized the only way the government's spending problem would be fixed was from an outside force. 

“Elon’s help could push us over the finish line," Meckler said. 

When asked, Rep. Mark Harris, R-N.C., said Tuesday he thought Musk potentially supporting the Convention of States was a good idea.

"I think it's a great suggestion," Harris said. "I mean, honestly, I think a lot of us were very frustrated, a little bit surprised to hear Elon Musk announce that he was going to form a third party. If you've been around politics for any length of time, this never ends well."

Shapiro suggested Musk back the Convention of States idea on his podcast.

"Meanwhile, Elon Musk has been talking about how he wants to start a third party and there are some encouraging him instead to put his money behind a Convention of States, which I think is actually the right idea," Shapiro said. "Elon has tons of money. A Convention of States would essentially be designed to add constitutional amendments like, for example, a balanced budget amendment."

Levin, who has been a long-time proponent of a state convention, suggested Tuesday that Musk would be wiser to take that path than the third-party option.

"I’d encourage Elon Musk to read my book, The Liberty Amendments, and get involved in the Convention of States movement," Levin wrote on X. "They address many of the concerns about government he has raised. And they provide a realistic avenue for advancing constitutional government. A third party is a dead end or worse."

Executive Director of the Foundation for Freedom Online Mike Benz said this idea should be put in front of Musk.

"This is the sort of push that should be put in front of Elon, and that, I think the kind of content that Elon tends to like to absorb...the sort of short video or metric or infographic-type information to bring his attention to that would be, would be very helpful," he said. 

Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis suggested on Monday that Musk get involved at the state level in order to balance the budget.

"Once you hit 34, then you can write an amendment and then the states are able to ratify that," DeSantis said during a press conference. "If Elon wanted to weigh in on that and work on those state [legislatures], I mean, he would have a monumental impact on doing this. We also need term limits for members of Congress. You can do both of those things."