Wisconsin's Supreme Court race has become a referendum on Elon Musk, and MSNBC's John Heilemann said a lot of Republicans wouldn't mind if the conservative candidate lost there.
Groups affiliated with the tech billionaire and Donald Trump adviser have poured more than $21 million into the race between conservative Brad Schimel and liberal Susan Crawford, and Heilemann told "Morning Joe" that Republicans are watching the outcome to determine how much lasting influence Musk has over their party.
"It's true, there's always a lot of focus on these off-year elections and on special elections in the president's first term," Heilemann said. "I think it's, you know, the if there's a large trend emerges over the course of the year, it's not unfair, and history would support the notion that you look at that large trend and say that it's telling you something."
"It's way too early in this year to come to that conclusion, but I've got to say, this Wisconsin race, you know, you could talk about all the various ways in which it's seen as a proxy for a lot of things," Heilemann added. "But, I mean, really, the Musk factor here is, it's really much more of a referendum, has been turned to a referendum on Elon Musk even more than it is the Trump agenda, and I can tell you that there are Republicans all over Washington who quietly would be perfectly happy to see the Republican lose that race in order to take some of the wind out of Elon Musk's sails."
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Musk spent more than $277 million of his own money on Trump's re-election, which bought him a powerful perch close to the Oval Office and wide-ranging – and constitutionally questionable – influence over government spending.
"There are a lot of Capitol Hill Republicans who are concerned about having an increasingly unpopular Elon Musk put around their neck like an albatross going into the midterm elections," Heilemann said. "And they would like to be done with him and give the president, President Trump, a sense that perhaps it's not in his or the party's best political interest to be seen as the party of Elon Musk.
"Losing this race in Wisconsin would have various negative implications for the Republican Party. But it would also take Elon Musk down a peg, and I can tell you, as I say, there are a lot of Republicans who wouldn't mind that happening."
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