Some Democrats want to thaw their frosty relationship with Elon Musk

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.

As President-elect Donald Trump prepares to install Musk as the federal government’s 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.

“He’s had an undeniable impact on the Pennsylvania election, and I think the election overall,” Fetterman, the Democratic Pennsylvania senator, told POLITICO. “I’ve warned Democrats, if you’re just going to make fun of it or to dismiss it, you do it at our peril. And I think that’s very clear what happened.”