The world’s richest man is throwing his weight fully behind former president Donald Trump down the stretch of the 2024 election cycle.
Billionaire Elon Musk, owner of X and CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, pumped about $75 million into his pro-Trump America PAC from July to September, newly released federal records show. He gave $30 million in both August and September after giving $15 million in July at the start of the most recent campaign fundraising quarter.
Tuesday is the quarterly filing deadline for political organizations to disclose to the Federal Election Commission their fundraising over the past few months. America PAC’s quarterly financials were highly anticipated because it was believed that Musk made a large contribution to the organization.
The substantial investment makes Musk one of the largest political donors this election cycle and further cements the rightward shift evident in his social-media activity. Last month, Musk contributed a six-figure sum to the GOP’s House campaign arm as Republicans trailed their Democratic counterparts in fundraising for key down-ballot races.
Musk’s net worth of $246.8 billion and ownership of X make him an enormously influential political figure, especially because of his 201.7 million X followers and near-constant posting on the platform. Trump has conducted multiple interviews on the platform, including a wide-ranging policy discussion with Musk during which he addressed the Butler assassination attempt and an assortment of policy issues.
America PAC is Musk’s political vehicle, and his X bio refers people to its page for users to understand why he is backing Trump. The organization is attempting to register and turn out swing-state voters for Trump, contributing to his ground game separately from the official campaign.
Musk emphatically endorsed Trump in July after Trump survived an assassination attempt during a campaign rally in Butler, Pa. Before that, Musk had supported Florida governor Ron DeSantis’s ill-fated GOP primary campaign against Trump.
Generra Peck, the initial DeSantis campaign manager who was fired over his struggles during the primary, is reportedly one of the Republican operatives running America PAC. Another DeSantis operative, former Republican Governors Association head Phil Cox, is also involved with the organization, according to the New York Times.
When Trump returned to Butler earlier this month, Musk spoke at the rally and dubbed himself “dark MAGA” as he sported a black cap with Trump’s signature slogan, a reference to a popular pro-Trump meme that Democrats appropriated and turned into Joe Biden’s “dark Brandon” persona.
Musk increasingly talks about the upcoming election in dire terms and warns that it could be the last democratic election in American history if Democrats register illegal immigrants to vote en masse. Noncitizen voting is rare in federal elections, although Democrats in a handful of deep-blue locales have permitted it for local elections.
Musk often speaks out against the surge in illegal immigration under the Biden administration and the threat to free speech posed by government agencies and Democrats seeking to restrict “disinformation” online. Another target of Musk’s is the “woke mind virus,” a phrase he uses to describe progressive stances on issues including diversity programs and sex-change procedures.
Furthermore, Musk believes federal regulations are getting in the way of innovation and has criticized the Biden administration for launching numerous investigations into his business enterprises.
If Trump wins in November, the former president promises to create a Musk-led government efficiency commission to investigate fraud and evaluate the performance of federal agencies.