Rare cheer for Democrats as Musk fails to stop election of liberal judge in Wisconsin

Democrats were tasting unfamiliar triumphalism yesterday after the election for a vacant Wisconsin supreme court seat turned into an emphatic repudiation of Elon Musk, Donald Trump's richest supporter and key ally.

- Robert Tait

Musk endured a wave of gloating on Twitter/X, his own social media platform, after Brad Schimel, a Trump-endorsed judge that he spent $25m (£19m) supporting, lost by 10 percentage points to Susan Crawford, whose victory sustained a four-three liberal majority on the court.

On a day that Trump has earmarked as "liberation day" to mark his introduction of trade tariffs, Democrats seized on the result as a referendum on Musk - who has spearheaded the president's slashing of federal government workers and spending programmes - and as a platform for a recovery in next year's congressional midterm elections.

The Democrats' official account posted a picture of Musk donning a cheese head and accompanied with the word "Loser".