(TNND) — Elon Musk declared on his X social media platform that he was forming the America Party "to give you back your freedom."

Musk has gone from a key supporter of President Donald Trump to a potential rival for Republicans in next year’s midterm elections.

The world’s richest man spent months leading Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency cost-cutting task force, only to see Republicans pass a massive tax and spending bill that’s projected to increase federal deficits by the trillions of dollars.

That hasn't sat well with Musk, who has been critical of Trump’s "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" and decried the "Democrat-Republican uniparty" that keeps growing the national debt.

Musk posted an X poll on the Fourth of July, in which about two-thirds of people supported the creation of a new party.

The next day, Musk announced the creation of the party, though it’s not clear what formal steps he’s taken on that front.

"By a factor of 2 to 1, you want a new political party and you shall have it!” Musk wrote on X. “When it comes to bankrupting our country with waste & graft, we live in a one-party system, not a democracy."

Trump responded with a post on his social media platform, Truth Social, that Musk had gone “off the rails,” and third parties don’t work in American politics.

So, how committed to the America Party is Musk?

“I don't know if he follows through with it,” said Oklahoma State University politics professor Seth McKee. “I mean, he'd have to spend gobs of money to try to get it off the ground for one.”

Musk did spend about $290 million to help Trump and other Republicans in the last election.

But McKee said that financial commitment was for an established party.

McKee was less convinced that Musk would open his deep pockets for a fledgling party.

Jacob Neiheisel, a political scientist at the University at Buffalo in New York, said Musk might stay committed to the America Party as long as he holds a grudge against Trump.

“It’s wait-and-see mode for me,” Neiheisel said.

Neiheisel said Musk clearly has a lot of money to throw around, but he said Musk might struggle with the nuts-and-bolts of politics. He said the expertise is locked up in partisan networks, and it’s not clear a lot of those experts would be willing to jump ship to join Musk.

“It's not like money is this magic salve,” Neiheisel said.

Neiheisel said he’s not entirely sure what the America Party platform would look like.

“I saw his brief kind of description of what they would do, and it seemed sort of like a tech bro libertarian party,” he said.

Neiheisel said the party could struggle to find its footing in the political marketplace.

McKee said Musk’s premise that the Republicans and Democrats are a "uniparty" is “completely bogus.”

“Anybody with half a brain knows that we're incredibly polarized,” McKee said. “So, the idea that you need a third party because of a two-party monopoly, well, there's a two-party monopoly, but these duopolists are so different that it's ridiculous to claim that they're in bed together.”

Neiheisel said third parties pop up usually around a single issue or narrow ideology for a slice of the electorate that's not being well represented by the major parties.

But he said the major parties scramble and try to collectively get rid of the challenger.

“Historically, third parties have had more success at the local level, up through and to include congressional districts,” Neiheisel said. “It's just really hard to get a nationwide movement going that's going to lay challenge to the major parties.”

You have to go back to the 1850s to find someone other than a Republican or Democrat occupying the White House.

Ross Perot was the last independent or third-party presidential candidate to earn a sizable share of the general election vote, and even he only got 19% in his famed 1992 run.

Musk suggested the strategic approach for his new party would be to target a handful of congressional seats that could help sway legislative votes.

Both McKee and Neiheisel expressed skepticism that the America Party could make big waves in the midterms.

But both men said it could prove more of a headache for Republicans than Democrats.

McKee said Musk’s party isn’t going to pull support from existing Democratic candidates, but Musk could make the election harder for incumbent Republicans.

McKee also expressed doubt that the America Party’s primary message of fiscal discipline will really motivate voters.

He said voters care about the cost of living but don’t seem to care a lot about the nation’s mounting debt.

McKee said the best territory for a third party to stake out is in the middle.

“The Republican Party is more conservative than a lot of their voters. The Democratic Party is more liberal than a lot of their voters. And so, the place where you can make the most gains is actually between the two parties,” McKee said. “And that's not really what he's talking about.”

But McKee said nobody gets excited about moderation, even if a lot of voters fall somewhere between the far right and far left. He said a lot of those voters aren’t as active, engaged or informed as partisans. And that makes reaching those voters difficult.