Elon Musk is fast becoming a central player in Trump’s interim cabinet and looking to his X platform for users to weigh in on the future of the GOP.
The Tesla CEO stepped up his involvement on Sunday by asking his 204 million followers on X who should be the new Senate Majority Leader.
Since Republicans have recaptured a 53-seat majority in the Senate, current Majority Leader Chuck Schumer will lose his gavel to the opposition when the new Congress is sworn in on January 3, 2025.
And since Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell, 82, took himself out of the running for the role in February, three main contenders have emerged as a replacement to the longtime GOP leader.
They include Rick Scott from Florida, John Thune from South Dakota and John Cornyn from Texas.
In Musk’s poll on X, Scott was far and away the favorite to become the next majority leader, with 66 percent of votes by X users.
The next most popular option was ‘other’ at 22 percent, suggesting that almost a quarter of the people polled want someone else entirely to take the helm.
Thune, at only 6 percent of the vote, had a slight edge on Cornyn who had just 5.1 percent support.
Scott is the favorite among MAGA-world, even though Trump himself dismissed Scott’s bid as ‘not serious,’ Axios reported days after he defeated Vice President Kamala Harris in the presidential election.
Despite Trump’s recent comments, Scott has been eyeing the majority leader role since March.
And MAGA-centric media also seems to part ways with the president’s distaste for the senator from Florida.
Charlie Kirk, a popular right-wing podcaster and founder of Turning Point USA, gave his full-throated endorsement to Scott on Saturday.
‘The people who just gave Donald Trump a sweeping mandate do not want Thune or Cornyn to lead the US Senate,’ Kirk wrote on X. ‘They want Rick Scott. It’s very clear.’
So too did conservative influencer Benny Johnson.
‘A vote for Rick Scott is a vote to END the anti-Trump rot of Mitch McConnell in the US Senate. McConnell is the single most unpopular politician in America for a reason,’ Johnson wrote on X.
He continued: ‘This is a moment of American renewal. Thune and Cornyn are a continuation of McConnell’s total failure.’
Tucker Carlson, a former Fox News host, told his 14.5 million followers to call their senators’ offices if they want to influence the leadership race in Scott’s favor.
‘Rick Scott of Florida is the only candidate who agrees with Donald Trump. Call your senator and demand a public endorsement of Rick Scott,’ Carlson wrote on X.
Carlson claimed Thune, 63, and Cornyn, 72, ‘hate Trump.’
His beef with Cornyn appears to be stronger, with Carlson calling him an ‘angry liberal whose politics are indistinguishable from Liz Cheney’s.’
Scott, whose bid is still considered a longshot by insiders, managed to score an important endorsement from Senator Bill Hagerty, a Republican from Tennessee.
Hagerty believes that Scott will be the best suited to ‘work hand-in-hand with President Trump to advance his America First agenda.’
Scott has also won the support of Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky and Senator Marco Rubio of Florida.
Meanwhile, Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri is endorsing Cornyn, much to the agitation of MAGA supporters.
‘I’m backing John Cornyn for majority leader. In the last two years, nobody has done more to win back the majority than he has,’ Hawley said in a statement. ‘He tirelessly raised millions of dollars for competitive Senate races including mine.’
So far two senators, one privately and one publicly, have backed Thune’s bid to lead the upper chamber.
Senator Steve Daines of Montana is reportedly urging other Republicans to cast their ballots in favor of Thune, while Senator Mike Rounds of South Dakota said Thune will ‘be a great leader.’
‘I think we’ve got a real winner in John Thune,’ Rounds added.
Trump could likely sway the leadership struggle with public endorsement, but he appears reluctant to do so.
Thune himself urged the President-elect not to put his thumb on the scale, The Hill reported.
Scott joined Maria Bartiromo’s Fox News show on Sunday to make the case for himself, touting his background in the private sector and his ‘great’ working relationship with House Speaker Mike Johnson.
‘I built businesses all my life,’ the former governor of Florida said. ‘I built the largest hospital company, I built a variety of manufacturing companies, I ran the state of Florida.’
The election for the new majority leader will take place on Wednesday morning.