Ro Khanna is trading texts with Elon Musk. Josh Shapiro took a call from him. And John Fetterman has compared him to the superhero Tony Stark.<\/p>\n

As President-elect Donald Trump prepares to install Musk as the federal government\u2019s cutter-in-chief, some ambitious Democrats are taking a warmer approach to the billionaire businessman than their party leaders have in the past as he has become one the most influential people on the planet.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s had an undeniable impact on the Pennsylvania election, and I think the election overall,\u201d Fetterman, the Democratic Pennsylvania senator<\/a>, told Blue Light News. \u201cI\u2019ve warned Democrats, if you\u2019re just going to make fun of it or to dismiss it, you do it at our peril. And I think that\u2019s very clear what happened.\u201d<\/p>\n

Musk is the world\u2019s richest man, and his companies are helping determine the future of space exploration, electric vehicles, AI and social media. Democrats who are making friendly overtures to him said that they want to shape the thinking of someone who will have an outsize microphone regardless of what they do. They are also eager to encourage him to develop his businesses in their backyards.<\/p>\n

Some of them are also eyeing presidential runs in 2028, and may want to avoid getting on his bad side for political reasons. Musk spent $280 million this year supporting Trump and other Republicans.<\/p>\n

The relationship between Democrats and Musk has been icy for the past few years. President Joe Biden said Musk\u2019s ties to other countries were \u201cworthy of being looked at\u201d and attacked him as a one-time \u201cillegal worker.\u201d Musk, in turn, called Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris each a \u201cpuppet.\u201d Liberals also laughed off Musk\u2019s purchase of X and his efforts to turn out the vote for Trump \u2014 with vice presidential nominee and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz mocking him for \u201cskipping like a dipshit\u201d on stage at a rally.<\/p>\n

But increasingly, some Democrats are arguing that was the wrong approach and think Musk played an outsize role in helping elect Trump \u2014 the latest sign that the left is confronting the president-elect differently this time around. It\u2019s an open question whether other Democrats will follow suit, and either benefit or suffer consequences.<\/p>\n

Some Democrats remain deeply skeptical of Musk, who is one of several billionaires<\/a> and tech leaders<\/a> Trump has tapped to staff his administration. They see Musk as an oligarch, and are concerned about his plans to slash the federal government with entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy as incoming co-leaders of Trump\u2019s Department of Government Efficiency.<\/p>\n

\u201cI reserve the right to be surprised, but this looks to me like a coming kleptocracy, in which all these billionaires are running the government in order to rig the rules,\u201d said Sen. Chris Murphy<\/a> (D-Conn.). \u201cSo I\u2019m pretty fucking skeptical that this is a legitimate effort.\u201d<\/p>\n

$\"Rep.$ <\/p>\n