Elon Musk urged Americans to “Vote red today!” on election day. By the next morning, that message had disappeared from his X account, while Democrats were celebrating victories that handed them control of both chambers of the US Congress.
The missing post was short, but it captured an extraordinary election campaign in which the Tesla and SpaceX chief had invested hundreds of millions of dollars in Republican candidates and political organisations. After the votes were counted, the message was gone. The reason remains unknown.
Which Elon Musk posts disappeared?
Musk published “Vote red today!” on Tuesday 3 November, the day of the US midterm elections. By Wednesday morning, the message was no longer visible on his account, according to reports by The Washington Post and Business Insider.
A second message, dated 29 October and previously pinned to the top of his X profile, was also removed. In that post Musk had warned about the consequences of future Democratic election victories and urged support for Republican Senate candidates, Forbes reported.
When users questioned whether the posts had been deleted, Grok, the AI chatbot developed by Musk’s xAI, answered yes. That response attracted attention because of its connection to Musk, but it is not an official explanation from him. The stronger evidence is the contemporaneous reporting that the posts had disappeared. Neither the precise time of removal nor the reason for it has been conclusively established.
Democrats won both the House and Senate
The timing gave the missing posts a particular significance. On the night of 3 November, the Associated Press called Democratic control of the Senate at 11.36pm Eastern Time. It called control of the House at 1.24am on 4 November. When the new Congress convenes in January 2027, Democrats will be able to challenge President Donald Trump’s legislative programme and conduct congressional oversight during the remaining two years of his term.
In Texas, Democrat James Talarico defeated Republican Ken Paxton in a closely watched Senate contest. AP called that race at 11.03pm Eastern Time on election night. Musk had spent heavily in support of Republican causes in Texas, making the result especially notable.
The result also followed an election campaign in which Musk had repeatedly warned about Democratic control of Washington. Fish 4 News previously examined his claim that Democratic victories could produce a permanent one-party America.
How much did Musk spend on the midterms?
The scale of Musk’s involvement went far beyond messages on social media. Forbes calculated that he directed at least $458 million towards Republican-aligned efforts during the election cycle, based on Federal Election Commission filings and other reporting. About $216 million went to his America PAC, which funded voter mobilisation and advertising.
Other estimates are higher. A New York Times-based tally reported by Quartz put his donations to federal and state political groups since January 2025 at about $474 million. These are estimates with differing scopes, not two confirmed totals for precisely the same set of transactions.
Enormous spending does not guarantee election victories, and the results cannot be reduced to one donor’s influence. Even so, the contrast between Musk’s campaign spending and the change in congressional control is central to understanding why the removed posts attracted so much attention.
What has Musk said since the election?
Musk did comment publicly as the results emerged. In an apparently sarcastic X post, he wrote: “Guess my election-interfering space lasers didn’t work this time.” He also reposted political analysis, according to Forbes.
Those comments do not establish why the earlier election appeals disappeared. Musk has not provided a verified public explanation for the removals in the reporting reviewed by Fish 4 News. It would therefore be misleading to claim that he deleted the posts out of embarrassment, regret or any other specific motive.
What is clear is that the posts disappeared at a politically consequential moment. Whether Musk chooses to explain that decision is a separate question from what voters decided on 3 November.
Watch: Forbes reports on the missing posts
Sources
- Associated Press: congressional control and election call timeline, 5 November 2026
- Forbes: report on Musk’s removed posts, 4 November 2026
- The Washington Post: Musk’s election-day message and campaign involvement, 4 November 2026
- Forbes: analysis of political spending, 4 November 2026, updated 6 November
Featured image: Fish 4 News editorial illustration. The depiction of the social media post is not an original screenshot.
