By Brian Slodysko, Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — Elon Musk, a tech mogul who is the world’s richest person, plunged more than $70 million into helping Donald Trump and other Republicans win in November’s election, making him one of the biggest donors to GOP causes this campaign season, according to campaign finance disclosures released this week.
Musk made the donation over the summer to America PAC, a super political action committee he launched in May to aid Trump in his bid to return to the White House. It quickly became a central player in Trump’s election effort.
“The America PAC is just aiming for common sense, centrist values,” the Space X and Tesla founder said Tuesday on his social media platform X, shortly after the sum of money he contributed was made public in a campaign finance filing.
Super PACs like Musk’s America PAC can raise and spend unlimited sums of money but are typically are forbidden from coordinating their efforts with the candidates they support. A recent opinion by the Federal Election Commission, which regulates federal political campaigns, allowed for candidates and these big-spending groups to work together on so-called ground game efforts, which are the armies of people deployed to knock on doors to help turn out the vote.
While candidates and political parties have traditionally organized and paid for such efforts, Trump’s campaign has struggled to raise money this year and has turned to a handful of outside groups to undertake the work, with Musk’s America PAC being top among them.
But in doing so, the campaign has outsourced a core function to a coterie of untested groups that operate independently. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis ’ decision to have an outside group canvass for him was is said to be one of the reasons his presidential bid failed.
So far, America PAC has spent over $38 million on voter “canvassing” efforts, according to campaign finance disclosures.
Much of America PACs money has been paid to a handful of consulting firms, including a number that are linked to Phil Cox, a former presidential campaign aide to DeSantis and a onetime executive director of the Republican Governors Association. Businesses under the umbrella of Cox’s various companies have collected at least $21 million since August, records show.
Trump’s outsourcing much of his get-out-the-vote effort is not the only unorthodox strategy his campaign has adopted this year. His campaign and allies have also jettisoned the traditional approach toward getting out the vote, which typically focused on winning over independent or moderate voters to your side. Instead, they are trying to drive turnout among Trump supporters who seldom cast a ballot, a novel if risky approach.
Though Musk is America PAC’s top donor, he is not its only one. The super PAC also collected about $8.75 million from a handful of wealthy donors, including the Winklevoss twins, Tyler and Cameron, the disputed creators of Facebook.
The super PAC has spent nearly $80 million this year. Though most of the spending has gone toward the presidential race, at least $5 million has been spent to help Republican House candidates.