WASHINGTON (AP) — Next week’s presidential election is more than just a referendum on Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. It’s also a measure of the influence the world’s richest man has on American democracy.
South African-born tech and business titan Elon Musk has spent at least $119 million mobilizing Trump supporters to support the Republican candidate. His social media platform “X” has become a fire hydrant for pro-Trump propaganda. And he’s taking center stage at Trump-style rallies in key battleground states.
Meanwhile, the scrutiny on him has become increasingly strict. He was absent from Thursday’s hearing in a lawsuit over his efforts to donate millions of dollars to registered voters, which legal experts have likened to vote-buying. He is under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Wall Street Journal also recently reported that Musk is in regular contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and that Musk’s aerospace company SpaceX has billions of transactions with NASA and the Department of Defense. Because the company has contracts worth US dollars, it could pose a national security risk.
Read more: What you need to know about Elon Musk’s reported phone call with President Putin and why it matters
Mr. Musk is not the only person whose vast wealth has strengthened his ties to politics, business, and foreign policy. But few people have publicly campaigned for a single candidate as much as Mr. Musk. Mr. Musk’s expanding business relationships and growing bravado are troubling tests of the political power of an unelected man. His stature is perhaps one of the most tangible results of the Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United decision, which removed many restrictions on political donations.
“This is definitely an election brought about by Citizens United,” said Daniel I. Weiner, director of elections and government at the Brennan Center for Justice, adding that the phenomenon was bigger than Musk alone. “What this means in practice is to transform our campaign finance system into one where our wealthiest donors play a central role.”
Musk did not respond to requests for comment through his lawyer. Tesla, his electric car company, and X did not respond to inquiries. In a statement, SpaceX disputed some of the Journal’s reporting and said it continues to “work closely with the U.S. government.”
Musk’s recent turn to “Dark MAGA”
Musk has recently turned into a self-proclaimed “Dark Maga” Trump warrior. Records show he has made small donations to both Republicans and Democrats in the past, including a $5,000 donation to Hillary Clinton in 2016. He had not contributed to Mr. Trump’s political activities until this year, according to federal campaign finance disclosures.
Once he did it, he had it all.
Musk currently heads America PAC, the superpolitical action committee that is spearheading Trump’s vote-getting efforts. As a newcomer to the political world, growing pains continue.
Spotted: What’s behind Elon Musk’s massive effort to elect Trump
Over the summer, America PAC struggled to meet its voter contact goals. Musk has brought in a new team of political consultants, Genera Peck and Phil Cox, who ran in the defeated Republican presidential primary against Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
On paper, the numbers have improved. But Republican officials, operatives and activists say it’s difficult to tell how active the PAC’s ground operations have been in some key locations.
The PAC’s presence is not felt in rural Georgia, according to three Republican strategists closely monitoring the battleground battle in the battleground state. For example, America PAC has shown little evidence that voters leave documents on their doorsteps when they are not at home, especially in remote areas, as is common, the three people said.
There are also signs that Musk, the tech innovator, is being used in his own game. In Nevada, hired recruiters paid tech-savvy operatives to digitally manipulate an app to track progress, according to three other people familiar with AmericaPAC’s efforts. It appears that the data was falsified in order to get paid for work they did not do. Recruiters are usually paid based on the number of doors they knock.
There are indications that this practice is not limited to Nevada. Two people familiar with the matter said a person warned America PAC leadership several weeks ago that a review of data from multiple states showed signs of falsification, but their concerns were ignored. It is said that it was done.
The people, like others who have provided details about Musk’s political activities, insisted on discussing the matter anonymously for fear of retaliation.
Musk is frustrated with PAC
Dissatisfied with the inner workings of his political organization, Mr. Musk brought in private-sector figures, including Steve Davis, president of Mr. Musk’s tunnel construction company Boring, according to three people familiar with the move. . Davis’ role with America PAC was first reported by the New York Times.
People close to PAC disputed that the group was used, suggesting it was a conspiracy theory based on a poor understanding of how political lobbying works. The person requested anonymity because he was not authorized to publicly discuss internal affairs of the PAC.
Musk wants to do more with the election than just bragging.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the main regulator of Tesla, has repeatedly proven to be a thorn in the side of Mr. Musk’s electric car maker and a major source of his wealth. The agency has overseen more than a dozen recalls, including one that Tesla resisted. It also launched an investigation that casts doubt on Mr. Musk’s claims that Tesla is close to achieving self-driving cars, a key shareholder expectation and a major driver of Tesla’s soaring stock price.
Tesla revealed earlier this year that the Department of Justice and SEC had subpoenaed it, demanding information about its “full self-driving” capabilities, vehicle features, data privacy, and more.
Social media platform X is another Musk company that has attracted the attention of the Biden administration. The Federal Trade Commission investigated Musk’s handling of sensitive consumer data after he took control of the company in 2022, but has not taken any enforcement action. The SEC is investigating Musk’s acquisition of a social media company.
Many of these problems, which Musk blames on President Joe Biden and the Democratic Party, could go away if Trump is elected. The former president believed that Musk could play a formal role in a future Trump administration that emphasizes government efficiency, but he did not acknowledge that Musk’s companies have extensive business dealings with the government. If you think about it, this is a huge conflict of interest.
Beaumont reported from Des Moines, Iowa, and Krisher reported from Detroit. Associated Press writers Alan Suderman in Richmond, Virginia, Barbara Ortutei in San Francisco and Mike Catalini in Morrisville, Pennsylvania, contributed to this report.
