Elon Musk will donate $70 million to support Donald Trump

Article content

WASHINGTON — Elon Musk, the tech mogul and richest man in the world, has committed more than $70 million to help Donald Trump and other Republicans win the November election, making him one of the largest donors to the GOP this campaign season, according to campaign financial disclosures published this week.

Article content

Over the summer, Musk donated to America PAC, the political action super committee he formed in May to help Trump in his bid to return to the White House. She quickly became a major player in Trump's re-election efforts.

“The American PAC is simply driven by common sense and centrist values,” the Space X and Tesla founder announced on Tuesday on his X social media platform, shortly after making public the amount he had donated in his campaign finance return.

Super PACs like Musk's America PAC can raise and spend unlimited amounts of money, but they are typically barred from coordinating their efforts with the candidates they support. A recent opinion by the Federal Election Commission, which regulates federal political campaigns, allowed candidates and big-spending groups to cooperate in so-called field operations, an army of people deployed to knock on doors and help run elections. voice.

Article content

While candidates and political parties traditionally organize and pay for such efforts, the Trump campaign failed to raise money this year and has turned to several outside groups to take on the work, prominent among them Musk's US PAC.

But in doing so, the campaign has outsourced core functions to a coterie of untested groups that operate independently. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis' decision to have him canvassed by an outside group is said to be one of the reasons his presidential bid failed.

Campaign finance disclosures show that America PAC has spent more than $38 million on voter canvassing activities to date.

Much of America's PAC money was paid to a handful of consulting firms, including several with ties to Phil Cox, a former adviser to DeSantis' presidential campaign and former executive director of the Republican Governors Association. Records show companies under the umbrella of Cox's various companies have raised at least $21 million since August.

Article content

We're sorry, but this video has failed to load.

Play the video

Trump outsourcing most of his get-out-the-vote efforts isn't the only unconventional strategy his campaign has adopted this year. His campaign and allies also rejected traditional approaches to getting the vote, which typically focused on winning over independent or moderate voters to his side. Instead, they are trying to increase turnout among Trump supporters who rarely vote, a novel if risky approach.

While Musk is a major donor to America PAC, he is not the only one. The super PAC also raised about $8.75 million from a handful of wealthy donors, including the Winklevoss twins, Tyler and Cameron, the contentious founders of Facebook.

The super PAC has spent nearly $80 million this year. Although most of the spending went to the presidential campaign, at least $5 million was spent to help House candidates.

Share this article on your social network