Musk is testing the role of money in American politics with multimillion-dollar efforts to support Trump

WASHINGTON – Next week’s presidential elections are not just a referendum Donald Trump And Kamala Harris. It’s also a measure of the influence the world’s richest man has on American democracy.

Elon Muskthe South African-born technology and business titan, has spent at least $119 million mobilizing Trump’s supporters to support the Republican candidate. His social media platform, X, has become a firehose of pro-Trump propaganda. And he is playing a leading role in Trump-style rallies in critical battleground states.

In the meantime, he is increasingly under scrutiny. He skipped a hearing On Thursday in a lawsuit over his attempt to hand out millions of dollars to registered voters, legal experts staged a giveaway akin to vote buying. He is under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission. And The Wall Street Journal recently reported that Musk regularly communicates with the Russian president Vladimir Putina potential risk to national security because SpaceX, its aerospace company, has billions of dollars in contracts with NASA and the Department of Defense.

Musk is hardly the only person whose mega-wealth places him at the crossroads of politics, business and foreign policy. But few work as publicly for a single candidate as Musk, whose extensive business ties and growing bravado pose a difficult test of one unelected person’s political power. His status is perhaps one of the most tangible consequences of the Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United decision, which removed many restrictions on political donations.

“This is absolutely an election brought to you by Citizens United,” said Daniel I. Weiner, director of elections and government at the Brennan Center for Justice, who added that the phenomenon was bigger than just Musk. “What this is really about is a transformation of our campaign finance system into one in which the wealthiest donors play a central role.”

Musk did not respond to a request for comment through his lawyer. Tesla, its electric car company and X did not respond to questions. SpaceX disputed parts of The Journal’s reporting in a statement and said it continues to work in “close coordination with the U.S. government.”

Musk’s Recent Conversion to ‘Dark MAGA’

Musk’s conversion to a self-proclaimed “Dark MAGA” Trump warrior is recent. In the past, he donated modest amounts to both Republicans and Democrats, including $5,000 Hillary Clinton in 2016, data shows. According to federal campaign finance revelations, he only contributed to Trump’s political efforts this year.

One time he was all in.

Musk now heads the America PAC, a super political action committee spearheading Trump’s get-out-the-vote efforts. As a newcomer to politics, there have been growing pains.

Over the summer, America PAC struggled to meet its voter outreach goals. Musk brought in a new team of political consultants, Generra Peck and Phil Cox, who worked on Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis losing the Republican presidential primary.

On paper the figures have improved. But Republican officials, operatives and activists say it is difficult to tell in some key places how active the PAC’s ground efforts have been.

The PAC’s presence is imperceptible in rural Georgia, according to three Republican strategists who are closely watching the ground in the battleground state. America PAC, for example, has shown little evidence of leaving literature on doorsteps, as is common when a voter is away from home, especially in remote places, the three people said.

There are also indicators that Musk, a tech innovator, has been abusive at his own game. In Nevada, three other people familiar with America PAC’s efforts said hired canvassers paid tech-savvy agents to digitally manipulate an app used to track their progress — appearing to falsify their data so they could get paid for work they had not done. Acquirers are usually paid based on the number of doors they knock on.

There are signs that the practice was not limited to Nevada. One person warned US PAC leadership weeks ago that data collection from multiple states showed signs it was falsified, but their concerns went unheeded, according to two people with knowledge of the matter.

The individuals, like others who provided details of Musk’s political operation, insisted on anonymity to discuss the matter for fear of retaliation.

Musk has grown frustrated with his PAC

Musk has grown frustrated with the inner workings of his political organization and has brought in private sector employees, including Steve Davis, president of the Boring Company, Musk’s tunneling company, according to three people with knowledge of the measure. Davis’ role at America PAC was first reported by The New York Times.

A person close to the PAC disputed that the group had been abused, suggesting it was a conspiracy theory based on a poor understanding of how political canvassing works. The person insisted on anonymity because he/she was not authorized to publicly discuss the PAC’s operations.

Musk has more influence on the election than just bragging.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the main agency that regulates Tesla, has repeatedly proven to be a thorn in the side of Musk’s electric car maker, which is the main source of his wealth. The agency is overseeing more than a dozen recalls, some of which Tesla resisted. It has also opened investigations that have cast doubt on Musk’s claims that Tesla is about to deploy self-driving vehicles, a key shareholder expectation and a key driver of Tesla’s high stock price.

Earlier this year, Tesla announced that the Justice Department and the SEC have requested and subpoenaed information regarding full self-driving capabilities, vehicle functionality, data privacy and other matters.

Social media platform X is another Musk company that has attracted interest from 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 took no enforcement action. The SEC has an ongoing investigation into Musk’s purchase of the social media company.

Musk blames the president for many of these problems Joe Biden and Democrats could disappear if Trump is elected. The former president has speculated that Musk could have a formal role in a future Trump administration focused on government efficiency — a huge conflict of interest given Musk’s companies’ vast dealings with government.

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Beaumont reported from Des Moines, Iowa, and Krisher reported from Detroit. Associated Press writers Alan Suderman in Richmond, Virginia, Barbara Ortutay in San Francisco and Mike Catalini in Morrisville, Pennsylvania, contributed to this report.