Elon Musk pledges $70 million to support Donald Trump

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On October 5, 2024, in Butler, Pennsylvania, the United States, Tesla CEO and X owner Musk reacted with Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Trump at a campaign rally in July The scene of the assassination attempt against Trump. Image source: Reuters

Elon Musk, the tech tycoon and the world’s richest man, spent more than $70 million helping Donald Trump and other Republicans win the November election, making him the largest donor to Republican causes this campaign season, according to released campaign finance disclosures one this week.

Musk donated this summer to America PAC, the super PAC he formed in May to help return Trump to the White House. It quickly became a central role in Trump’s campaign effort.

“American PACs are all about common sense and centrist values,” the SpaceX and Tesla founder said on his social media platform X on Tuesday, shortly after his donation totals were revealed in campaign finance filings.

Super PACs like Musk’s US PAC can raise and spend unlimited amounts of money but are generally prohibited from coordinating their efforts with the candidates they support. A recent opinion from the Federal Election Commission, which regulates federal political campaigns, allows candidates and these big-spending groups to work together on so-called ground games, where large groups of people go door-to-door to help with election results.

While such efforts are traditionally organized and paid for by candidates and parties, Trump’s campaign has struggled to raise money this year and has turned to a handful of outside groups, including Musk’s US Political Action Committee, to take on the work Outstanding.

But in doing so, the campaign outsourced a core function to an untested group operating independently. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ decision to have outside groups lobby on his behalf is said to be one of the reasons his presidential bid failed.

According to campaign finance disclosures, U.S. political action committees have spent more than $38 million so far on voter canvassing efforts.

Much of the money from the American PAC has been paid to several consulting firms, including some with ties to Phil Cox, a former presidential campaign aide to DeSantis and former executive director of the Republican Governors Association. Records show businesses owned by Cox’s companies have raised at least $21 million since August.

Trump outsourcing much of his canvassing efforts isn’t the only unorthodox tactic his campaign has adopted this year. His campaign and allies are also moving away from traditional voting methods, which often focus on winning over independent or moderate voters. Instead, they are trying to boost turnout among Trump supporters who rarely vote, a novel but risky approach.

While Musk is the largest donor to U.S. political action committees, he’s not the only one. The super PAC also raised about $8.75 million from a handful of wealthy donors, including the Winklevoss twins, controversial Facebook founders Taylor and Cameron.

Super PACs have spent nearly $80 million this year. While most of the spending went to the presidential campaign, at least $5 million was used to help Republican House candidates.

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