Musk Jokes About Republican Midterm Losses After Spending Nearly $500 Million; Tesla, SpaceX Shares Fall

Elon Musk joked on X early Wednesday, November 4, 2026, about Republican defeats in the U.S. midterm elections, after contributing nearly half a billion dollars to Republican efforts. Democrats captured both the Senate and the House of Representatives on Tuesday, November 3. At about 1:12 a.m., Musk posted that data centers in space looked appealing, then a minute later wrote that his election-interfering space lasers had not worked this time. Hours later he commented "Interesting" on a repost of exit polling that purportedly showed voters backing the Trump administration's immigration policies but strongly opposing the Iran war; the source and credibility of that polling were unclear. Tesla and SpaceX shares fell Wednesday, even as other tech companies did well in early trading. Democrats have signaled they intend to investigate Musk once they control Congress, and his plan to merge SpaceX and Tesla could face obstacles. In Texas, where he moved his companies from California, Democrat Gina Hinojosa won the governorship after campaigning against Musk, calling for a moratorium on new data centers and an end to tax breaks for the industry.

Newsmax, the right-leaning outlet, runs a short item headlined around Musk joking about GOP losses after $500 million in spending. It leads with the joke and the money and treats the Democratic takeover as background, without the stock moves, investigations or Texas race. The left-leaning outlets go further. The New Republic frames it as Musk "spiraling" over a failure to buy elections, calls him a tech oligarch, and details his posts, the share drops, the investigation threats and Hinojosa's win. The New York Times headlines the stock tumble after Musk-backed candidates lost in Texas and notes he has antagonized Democrats. Both sides agree on the core facts: the joke, the near-$500 million in spending and the Democratic win. They differ in that the right treats it as a brief spending-and-joke story, while the left stresses financial and political consequences. Among alternative outlets, The Hindu mirrors the wire-style account, while Defector offers a distinct angle, noting that the spending barely dented Musk's estimated $860 billion fortune and arguing he could try again.