Elon Musk, the billionaire entrepreneur behind Tesla, SpaceX, and X, has once again thrust himself into the political spotlight—this time by making a high-profile endorsement in the fiercely contested New York City mayoral race. On November 3, 2025, just one day before voters headed to the polls, Musk took to his social media platform X to throw his support behind former Governor Andrew Cuomo, who is running an independent campaign against Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani and Republican Curtis Sliwa. The move marks a striking turn for Musk, who has been more closely associated with Republican politics in recent years, particularly as a vocal supporter of Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential bid.
“VOTE CUOMO!” Musk wrote emphatically, urging New Yorkers to back Cuomo over his opponents. He didn’t mince words about Sliwa either, declaring, “Bear in mind that a vote for Curtis is really a vote for Mumdumi or whatever his name is.” The jab at Mamdani’s name was unmistakable, but the message was clear: Musk sees a vote for Sliwa as inadvertently helping Mamdani, the 34-year-old democratic socialist who has been leading in recent polls. According to Business Insider, this marks the first time Musk has officially endorsed a candidate in the race, despite his prior criticisms of Mamdani.
Musk’s endorsement is especially notable given his recent political trajectory. In the 2024 presidential election, he was one of Donald Trump’s most prominent backers, even joining the Trump administration for a stint as head of the newly created Department of Government Efficiency. On the campaign trail, Musk championed Trump’s platform of mass deportations and government cost-cutting, and he’s been a frequent critic of what he calls “woke” policies from progressive Democrats. As Mediaite pointed out, Musk’s support for Cuomo—a Democrat with a reputation for centrist governance—stands in stark contrast to his previous alliances.
Yet, the story doesn’t end there. Just days before his mayoral endorsement, Musk appeared on a three-hour episode of “The Joe Rogan Experience,” where he unleashed a barrage of criticism against the Democratic Party’s immigration policies. Musk argued that the Democrats’ approach to immigration was undemocratic, accusing them of shutting down the federal government on October 1, 2025, to protect healthcare funding for undocumented immigrants. “If Trump had lost, there would never have been another real election again. Because Trump is actually enforcing the border … There’ll be cases where they’ve been overzealous in expelling illegals,” Musk told Rogan, as reported by The Daily Caller. “But if you say that the standard must be perfection for expelling illegals, then you will not get any expulsion, because perfection is impossible.”
Musk didn’t stop there. He asserted that the Democrats’ push to keep healthcare funding for undocumented immigrants was intended to create a “giant magnet” attracting more illegal immigration—a move, he claimed, designed to bolster their voter base. “The entire basis for the government shutdown is that the Trump administration correctly does not want to send … hundreds of billions of dollars to fund illegal immigrants in the blue states — or in all the states, really,” Musk said. “And the Democrats want to keep the money spigot going to incent illegal immigrants to come into the U.S. who will vote for them. That’s the crux of the battle.”
Republicans have echoed Musk’s accusations, though Democrats strongly deny the charge that the shutdown was about funding for undocumented immigrants. The Congressional Budget Office estimated in June that roughly 1.4 million people who would lose Medicaid coverage under the reconciliation bill signed by Trump in July 2025 “would be people who do not meet citizenship and immigration status requirements for Medicaid enrollment but who would be covered under current law in programs funded by the states.”
Returning to the mayoral race, Musk’s endorsement of Cuomo has stirred the pot in an already heated contest. Cuomo, once a lightning rod for controversy during the COVID-19 pandemic due to his handling of nursing home admissions and data transparency, is now being positioned as the centrist alternative to Mamdani’s progressive platform and Sliwa’s Republican bid. Musk’s support comes despite his past clashes with Cuomo over pandemic policies. As Mediaite noted, Musk was highly critical of Cuomo’s restrictions and the administration’s handling of COVID-19 data, yet he now appears to see Cuomo as the lesser of two evils compared to Mamdani.
Why the shift? Musk’s aversion to socialism seems to play a key role. He has repeatedly contrasted the economic outcomes of capitalist and socialist systems, often pointing to historical examples like Germany and Korea. Mamdani, for his part, has leaned into his democratic socialist identity, recently campaigning alongside Senator Bernie Sanders. During a rally, Sanders declared that he and Mamdani would not “allow” Musk to become the world’s first trillionaire—a pointed jab at the billionaire’s growing wealth and influence.
The billionaire class has been lining up against Mamdani, with Musk now joining the likes of Mike Bloomberg, Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia, and hedge fund manager Bill Ackman, all of whom have opposed Mamdani’s candidacy. President Trump himself has weighed in, telling CBS News in a “60 Minutes” interview, “If it’s gonna be between a bad Democrat and a communist, I’m gonna pick the bad Democrat all the time, to be honest with you.”
The campaign has also dredged up old grievances. Mamdani criticized Cuomo for awarding $959 million in tax breaks to a solar panel company owned by Musk’s family—a project that was later sold to Tesla. Sliwa, the Republican candidate, echoed this criticism, telling Business Insider that Musk “couldn’t care less about what happens in New York City,” and suggesting that Cuomo’s support for Musk’s ventures was a sign of misplaced priorities.
Despite the mudslinging, recent polling suggests that Musk’s endorsement could be consequential. An Atlas poll found that Cuomo would beat Mamdani in a head-to-head matchup if Sliwa were to drop out, though Sliwa remains on the ballot. The race remains unpredictable, with each candidate seeking to consolidate support in the final hours.
Meanwhile, Musk’s political commentary continues to attract attention—and controversy. During his Rogan interview, he claimed, “In a nutshell, the Democratic Party wants to destroy democracy by importing voters. And the Republican Party disagrees with that.” He also defended Trump against his harshest critics, saying, “I think Trump actually — he’s not perfect, but he’s not evil. Trump is not evil. I spent a lot of time with him — and he’s a product of his time — but he is not evil,” with Rogan agreeing.
For Musk, the New York City mayoral race is just the latest battleground in a broader ideological struggle—one that pits his brand of technocratic capitalism against the rising tide of democratic socialism. Whether his endorsement will tip the scales in Cuomo’s favor remains to be seen, but one thing is certain: Musk’s voice is as influential—and polarizing—as ever in American politics.
