How the world’s richest man is helping Trump’s presidential bid

US billionaire Elon Musk has used social media platform X and his vast fortune to support Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s re-election bid, far surpassing what political mega-donors have historically done.

Musk, 53, who has said he has voted for Democratic presidential candidates in the past, has become more publicly right-wing during this campaign. She endorsed Trump in July and appeared with him in Pennsylvania this month.

If re-elected, Trump promises to name Musk head of a government efficiency commission, a job Musk promises will help rid the country of regulations he sees as bad for the economy and a deterrent to doing business.

The CEO of Tesla and SpaceX and owner of X has millions of dollars in government contracts and his companies face significant and sometimes costly government regulations related to consumer and environmental protection.

Neither Musk nor the presidential campaign of Democrat Kamala Harris responded Reuters requests for comment on Musk’s pro-Trump activities.

Here are some of the ways Musk is supporting Trump.

America Pac

Musk’s pro-Trump spending group America PAC is playing an important role in helping mobilize and register voters in battleground states that could decide the election. Musk, ranked by Forbes as the world’s richest man, has so far given at least $75 million to the political action committee, according to federal disclosures.

America PAC spent about $72 million of that total between July and September, according to disclosures filed with the Federal Election Commission. That’s more than any other pro-Trump super PAC focused on voter turnout.

America PAC is struggling in some battleground states to reach door-knocking targets and is investigating allegations that some pollsters lied about the number of voters they contacted, Reuters reported last week.

X Platform

Musk has over 202 million followers on social media platform X, which he bought for $44 billion in October 2022 when it was known as Twitter. Since endorsing Trump, he has used the platform to promote the Republican nominee. Some of his posts spread misinformation and cast doubt on the integrity of the upcoming elections.

In July, for example, he commented on a post by Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson, writing, “The goal was to bring in as many illegal voters as possible,” repeating the false claim that Democrats are intentionally allowing citizens into the country so they can to vote in elections.

That same month, she shared a video, created with artificial intelligence and manipulating the voice of Vice President Harris, in which Harris, the daughter of a Jamaican father and an Indian mother, described herself as the “ultimate diversity recruiter” and criticized President Joe Biden .

Musk has been critical of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs aimed at boosting racial and ethnic representation in the workplace, posting in January, for example, that “DEI is just another word for racism. Shame on whoever uses it.”

X and other social media platforms have come under greater scrutiny since 2016, when Russia meddled in the US presidential election to try to boost Trump’s candidacy and damage his rival, Democrat Hillary Clinton.

Since Musk’s acquisition of then-Twitter in 2022, civil rights groups have raised concerns about an increase in hate speech and misinformation due to reduced content moderation.

According to X’s current policy, the platform can “flag posts that contain misleading media to help people understand their authenticity and provide additional context,” or remove misleading posts that pose a serious risk of harm.

But researchers say it’s still a source of misinformation about the election, through fake accounts and the amplification of that content by Musk himself.

Million dollar gift

Musk is also promising to give $1 million every day to randomly selected people who sign his online petition pledging to support the First and Second Amendments to the US Constitution, which protect the rights to free speech and to bear arms. The petition is open only to signers who are registered voters in seven battleground states that could decide the presidential election.

The petition falls into a gray area of ​​election law, and legal experts are divided on whether Musk could be violating prohibitions on paying people to register to vote. Critics say it’s a ploy to help shore up support for Trump.

America PAC publishes promotional video interviews and photos of people who won the $1 million prizes at Musk’s X, where they garner millions of views. Petition signers must provide their address and cell phone number, indicating that they may then be contacted by America PAC Doors.

Campaign brainstorming

Musk joined Trump at an Oct. 5 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, the site of a July assassination attempt on the Republican nominee, and returned to the state for additional campaigning less than two weeks later.

During his tour of Pennsylvania, Musk made a series of bogus claims about voter fraud, some of which echo those made by Trump over the past four years.

He also encouraged people to use his X platform to shine a light on possible election fraud.

“If people believe there is fraud, then they should post the pictures, post the videos, post the evidence,” he said.