Lately figures like Andrew Yang, Elon Musk and Tulsi Gabbard have delighted the right-wing media with their anti-liberal rhetoric. All three have been (or at least claimed to be) Democrats. Yang and Gabbard ran as long-shot candidates in Democratic presidential primaries. Musk tweeted in May that he voted Democratic, but the Tesla CEO also donated to Republican Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas in 2014, not something a lot of Democrats would do. Indeed, Musk’s embrace of conservative culture war issues has made him something of a hero on the right. And his conservative fans have grown only more vocal since Musk pledged — and then tried to back out of — a deal to buy Twitter.
People who reject their own party also gain a kind of inherent credibility. By putting principles over party, they gain the ultimate moral high ground.
In hindsight, it’s not entirely clear whether Musk was ever really serious about buying the social media platform. But the trend of Republicans’ loving former or reformed Democrats is real
The appeal of partisan “defectors” is obvious: Who better to trash a party than the people who used to support it? People who reject their political peers in whole or part also gain a kind of inherent credibility. By putting principles over party, they gain the ultimate moral high ground.
Over the past few years, most flip-floppers have been of the conservative variety. Never-Trump Republicans remain highly prized in liberal spaces, and it’s not hard to see why. They symbolize how far the GOP has fallen.
Of course, the larger problem with defectors is that they often helped create the party they now think has gone too far. Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., may hate Donald Trump now, but many of her values and votes helped shape the world that made Trump possible.









