Elon Musk spends $277 million to again Trump and Republican candidates
Elon Musk spent greater than 1 / 4 of a billion {dollars} to again President-elect Donald Trump and different Republican candidates, marketing campaign finance data filed Thursday present.
The sum makes Musk, the world’s richest individual, the most important donor within the 2024 election cycle to both social gathering, Federal Election Fee filings present.
The majority of Musk’s spending was by his personal America PAC, to which he contributed $239 million. However filings additionally confirmed that Musk was additionally behind a political motion committee utilizing the late Supreme Court docket Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s namesake — “RBG PAC” — in commercials with deceptive claims that Ginsburg held views on abortion that have been just like Trump’s.
Ginsburg’s granddaughter, Clara Spera, instructed The New York Instances in October that the PAC was an “affront to her grandmother’s legacy,” and it was “nothing in need of appalling” that Ginsburg’s identify was getting used to help Trump’s reelection marketing campaign. Ginsburg overtly supported abortion rights, whereas Trump put three conservative justices on the Supreme Court docket who have been a part of the bulk opinion within the case hanging down the federal proper to an abortion.
Musk put $20.5 million into the PAC, the one contribution it obtained. The group ran commercials emphasizing Trump’s statements that he would veto a nationwide abortion ban if elected, and pointing to Ginsburg’s statements that the choice in Roe v. Wade went too far.
Musk additionally donated $10 million to the Senate Management Fund, which helps Republican Senate candidates, and $3 million to the MAHA Alliance PAC, a gaggle affiliated with Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s “Make America Wholesome Once more” message.
Via the America PAC, his principal marketing campaign car, Musk and a handful of different donors funded a get-out-the-vote effort by door-knocking, texting, cellphone calls, mailers and commercials.
By far, America PAC’s greatest expense was a $40.5 million fee to United States of America, Inc, an organization registered final month with an tackle related to Musk. It is unclear how precisely these funds have been used.
In October, Musk additionally pledged to present away $1 million a day to a registered voter in Pennsylvania who signed his petition. The sweepstakes have been challenged in courtroom, however a choose dominated that they might proceed. Musk’s attorneys mentioned the winners weren’t chosen by probability, however as a substitute primarily based on their private tales, and the funds have been a part of a contract they signed to change into spokespeople for his America PAC. Musk is now going through a number of lawsuits from contributors who declare it was falsely billed as a lottery.
He rose as a significant political donor quickly. In March, he posted on X, the social media platform Musk owns, that he wouldn’t donate to both presidential candidate. After which on July 3, he made his first contribution of $5 million to America PAC. Ten days later, he publicly introduced his endorsement of Trump and shortly grew to become a key determine within the former president’s marketing campaign.
At a rally Musk held in Pennsylvania for Trump on Oct. 20, he reiterated a message featured in a lot of his X posts.
“That is a very powerful election in your lifetime,” he mentioned. “If there’s any election the place you ever vote, it must be this one.”
After Trump’s victory, the president-elect tapped him to steer a brand new initiative known as the Division of Authorities Effectivity with former Republican presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy, advising the president on chopping $500 billion in annual spending and decreasing federal authorities positions.
