Elon Musk Is Trying to Buy the Midterms, and He Doesn’t Care Who Knows It

The Washington Roundtable is joined by Alex Gibney, the Oscar-winning filmmaker, to discuss his new documentary, “Musk.” Since July, Elon Musk has poured more than a quarter of a billion dollars into Republican campaigns, more than any other donor in the midterms by a wide margin, and all in plain view. Jane Mayer, the New Yorker staff writer and the author of “Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right,” explains how Musk is bringing political financing by the ultra-wealthy out of the shadows: “He’s the coming-out party for the billionaires.” Gibney argues that Musk’s flagrant spending is less a matter of ideology than one of self-preservation—a way to forestall investigations, protect his companies, and keep the federal contracts coming. How did a single person come to wield this kind of power over our elections, our technology, and even a war on the other side of the world? “He sold us all a dream,” Gibney says, “and we fell for it.” This week’s reading: “Trump’s October Surprise Is a Pivot to Putin,” by Susan B. Glasser “Who Won the Redistricting War?,” by Jon Allsop “Kimberly Who?,” by Ruth Marcus “Donald Trump After the Midterms,” by David Remnick “Pity the Poor Passport,” by Adam Gopnik The Political Scene draws on the reporting and analysis found in The New Yorker for lively conversations about the big questions in American politics. Join the magazine’s writers and editors as they put into context the latest news—about elections, the economy, the White House, the Supreme Court, and much more. New episodes are available three times a week. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices