Billionaire Elon Musk has donated millions of dollars to Republican causes as early as 2022, much earlier than previously known, according to media reports.
In the fall of 2022, the CEOs of Tesla and SpaceX donated more than $50 million to groups tied to President Trump advisor Stephen Miller. The Wall Street Journal reported.
The group, called Citizens for Sanity, used the money to run ads attacking Democrats in battleground states ahead of the midterm elections.
According to the newspaper, Musk also donated $10 million to support Florida Governor Ron DeSantis' 2023 presidential bid, more than half of which went to the pro-DeSantis super PAC Never Back. It was donated to “Down''.
He also began donating to another Republican organization, Building America's Future, in 2022. Reuters reported. It's unclear how much Musk donated, but Building America's Future's revenue jumped from $11 million in 2021 to $53 million in 2022.
Both media outlets noted that Musk's donations were sent to Republican groups through 501(c)(4) organizations, also known as “dark money” groups that do not have to disclose their sources.
The billionaire, who once largely avoided politics, has increasingly stepped into partisan debates in recent months, endorsing former President Trump and amplifying right-wing views on his social platform X. are.
Musk publicly endorsed Trump in July after the former president was injured in an assassination attempt at a campaign rally. The tech mogul also helped launch America PAC, a pro-Trump super PAC that raised millions of dollars earlier this year.
