Elon Musk is using his wealth and the power of his social platform X to try to tilt the election in former President Trump’s favor, stirring up controversy in the process.
The billionaire owner of Tesla and SpaceX has long leaned to the political right, pouring his fortune into pro-Trump super PACs and flooding his 2022 purchase, X, with content critical of Democrats and Vice President Harris.
“The big difference is [between Musk and other wealthy donors] “The thing is, he’s a Trump figure himself,” Sarah Breiner, director of research and strategy at Open Secrets, told The Hill.
“He’s a very famous person. Most people who donate to politicians aren’t famous, but Elon Musk is famous,” Breiner continued. “The combination of celebrity and wealth is a little bit unusual.”
Musk formally endorsed former President Trump after he was injured in an assassination attempt last month. He had previously posted right-leaning content and interacted on X, but had refrained from endorsing any specific candidates in the presidential election.
Following the endorsement, Musk began posting frequent content defending the former president. On Monday, Musk hosted Trump for about two hours on X, where they discussed everything from the assassination attempt to the former president’s views on immigration and the economy.
The billionaire has also been increasingly sharing content disparaging toward Ms Harris since President Biden dropped out of the race and endorsed Vice President Harris, who has secured the Democratic nomination ahead of next week’s convention in Chicago.
Musk faced strong backlash late last month after he posted a mock election ad in which he imitated the voice of an artificial intelligence (AI) that made insults against Harris’ campaign and Biden, actions that appeared to violate his platform’s policies.
Ms. Harris’ ownership of X has worried some Democrats, as several pro-Harris accounts on the platform have been suspended or spammed in recent weeks.
The White Dude X account, which supports Harris, was temporarily suspended after hosting a major fundraising call for the vice president in late July. A few days later, it was labeled as spam and had its access restricted. Progressives for Harris was similarly suspended for a short period in early August.
Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, called for an investigation into potentially restricting Harris’ primary campaign account on X last month after users reported issues with following the account.
Nadler on Monday again called for an investigation into “political censorship” on the platform, this time pointing to inaccurate information provided by X’s AI chatbot, “Glock,” that suggested Harris had missed voting deadlines in several states and was therefore ineligible to appear on the ballot.
Jonathan Nagler, co-director of the Center on Social Media and Politics at New York University, said Musk’s “literal control” of X, including its algorithms, is “potentially problematic” in the context of an election.
“He can change the algorithm at his whim, and he’s completely free to tweak it to give more or less weight to the content he changes,” Nagler told The Hill. “He can decide to suppress content that criticizes Trump, or he can decide to suppress content that praises Harris.”
Musk could not be reached for comment, and SpaceX and Tesla did not respond to requests for comment.
The billionaire’s forays into campaign finances appear to have begun before his current pro-Trump social media offensive.
He reportedly began meeting this spring with consultants and vendors for his super PAC, America PAC, to discuss efforts to turn out 800,000 votes for Trump in battleground states. The Wall Street Journal.
According to the Federal Election Commission (FEC), Musk had not made any public donations to federal candidates, political party committees, or super PACs as of June 30. Donation Database.
However, the US PAC has already About $8.8 million in the first month It also has support from the billionaire’s inner circle, including Palantir Technologies co-founder Joe Lonsdale and Valor Equity Partners CEO Antonio Gracias.
Musk had previously suggested he would donate $45 million per month to the America PAC, but quickly backtracked on that promise. The super PAC isn’t required to file new disclosures until mid-October, so details about donors from June 30 to September 30 won’t be made public until then.
But USA PAC is already under scrutiny for its data collection practices, and is being investigated by the North Carolina State Elections Board and, reportedly, the Michigan Secretary of State’s office.
America PAC’s no-frills website included a “register to vote” page, which has since been removed.
The page asked users in competitive states like Michigan and North Carolina to submit personal information like their address and phone number, but did not direct them to sites where they could register to vote in their states, the states said. Initial Report From CNBC.
“The State Board of Elections has received a complaint about this organization. The complaint alleges that this organization operates a website that misleads people into believing they are registered to vote, but no registration forms are submitted to the Board of Elections. The complaint is currently under investigation,” board spokesman Patrick Gannon told The Hill.
He also noted that in North Carolina, “it is a crime to tell a voter that they will submit a voter registration form and then not submit the form.”
“During the course of the investigation, if the state board determines there is evidence that substantiates a violation and warrants charges, the case will be sent to the district attorney’s office for prosecutorial review. The district attorney’s office will determine whether to file charges,” Gannon added.
The Michigan Secretary of State’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
But a source familiar with America PAC’s operations told The Hill that the company has actively lobbied officials in both states and believes it is in full compliance with the law.
Sources said the information voters in battleground states provided on the website was used to fill out voter registration forms that were mailed to would-be voters and asked to sign.
The company behind the process, Raconteur Media, was fired during a recent major restructuring of super PAC field operations, and has since been brought back to finish the job, as first reported by The Wall Street Journal.
