Elon Musk Makes Announcement About 2024 Race
Since January, Elon Musk has sparked concerns about election security on X, a platform he owns, drawing about 3.3 billion views. This has made the tech mogul one of the most influential voices on elections during the 2024 campaign.
“An analysis of nearly 17,000 of Musk’s posts this year, along with thousands more he responded to or reshared, revealed 361 posts specifically addressing possible election fraud in U.S. elections. While these posts make up only a small portion of the dozens Musk shares each day, they average 9.3 million views due to his status as the most-followed account on X,” CBS News noted.
Liberals worry that Musk's vast reach could sway the election in favor of Republicans and Donald Trump.
“The tech entrepreneur stated that he voted Republican for the first time during a Texas congressional race in June 2022. A month later, he wrote that he believed it was time ‘for Trump to hang up his hat.’ However, over the next two years, his posts criticizing President Biden and Trump’s legal troubles increased,” CBS reported.
“On July 13, 2024, the day of the first attempt on Trump's life, Musk declared his official endorsement of the Republican candidate. Since then, his posts have displayed unwavering support for Trump,” the report continued.
Musk has now become a prominent Republican "megadonor" after contributing a large sum to a Trump-affiliated political group.
According to election-related financial disclosures, Musk gave $75 million to a superPAC he created over the past three months, according to Reuters.
Federal Election Commission filings show that America PAC spent about $72 million between July and September to rally voters in key battleground states that could influence the election’s outcome.
This amount surpasses any other Trump-aligned superPAC focused on voter turnout. With Musk’s vast wealth behind it, the superPAC plays a pivotal role in the highly competitive race between Trump and Democratic candidate Vice President Kamala Harris, as Trump’s campaign primarily relies on external organizations for voter outreach, according to Reuters.
During that period, Musk, also the CEO of Tesla, was the PAC’s sole donor.
Despite previously claiming to have supported Democratic presidential candidates, Musk has shifted significantly to the right in this election cycle. The publication noted that earlier this month, Musk joined Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania and formally endorsed him in July.
Less than two weeks after his Pennsylvania appearance, Musk posted on X on Wednesday that he would be “holding a series of talks” across the state.
He explained that to attend these sessions, scheduled for “tomorrow night through Monday,” people need only sign a petition on his America PAC website.
According to a Reuters source, Musk plans to increase his campaign efforts for Trump in Pennsylvania, a state seen as vital for both Trump and Harris in the presidential race.
With his contributions to America PAC, Musk now stands alongside other Republican megadonors like casino mogul Miriam Adelson and banking heir Timothy Mellon. However, Reuters recently revealed that Musk has secretly supported conservative political causes long before his open endorsement of Trump.
America PAC, using a high-risk, labor-intensive strategy, aims to motivate Trump supporters who typically don't vote to do so in this election cycle, according to Reuters. The PAC faced challenges with staffing and contractors, as it began operations later than other groups. Since July, it has terminated two major contractors initially hired to canvass communities.
Additionally, Reuters reported through six sources familiar with the matter that the PAC has struggled to recruit canvassers in several battleground states, partly due to many other organizations having already staffed up by the time America PAC became active.
By the end of September, the group had about $4 million remaining, based on financial records.
“Separate filings on Tuesday revealed that Miriam Adelson, the casino magnate, contributed $95 million to another pro-Trump superPAC, Preserve America PAC, during the same period,” Reuters added.