Elon Musk loaded $75 million into his pro-Trump super PAC in 3 months
by Taylor Giorno and Julia Shapero, The Hill.com, October 15, 2024
Elon Musk has personally contributed at least $75 million to his pro-Trump America PAC since July as he pushes for the former president to return to the White House, according to new campaign finance records filed Tuesday.
Musk has publicly backed former President Trump for months, with his enthusiasm epitomized during a recent Pennsylvania rally with an on-stage leap that launched countless memes.
Since the billionaire founded America PAC earlier this year, the super PAC has launched envelope-pushing voter outreach initiatives in battleground states and reportedly hired hundreds of employees.
READ: Elon Musk Super PAC spends $8.2 million to boost House GOP majority
Since June, the super PAC poured more than $102.2 million into the 2024 presidential race, with tens of millions of dollars spent backing Trump and attacking Vice President Harris. America PAC also spent nearly $8.9 million of that total opposing President Biden before he dropped out of the race in mid-July, according to the money-in-politics trackers at OpenSecrets.
The super PAC became the seventh-biggest outside spender of the 2024 election cycle in a matter of months, according to an OpenSecrets tally. Other top 10 spenders include the primary pro-Harris super PAC, Future Forward USA; the primary pro-Trump super PAC, Make America Great Again Inc.; the Koch-affiliated Americans for Prosperity; the crypto industry’s Fairshake PAC and super PACs aligned with Republican and Democratic Senate leadership.
Earlier records showed that America PAC had raked in millions of dollars from Musk’s close allies, including Palantir Technologies co-founder Joe Lonsdale, Sequoia Capital partners Doug Leone and Shaun Maguire, and crypto investors Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss.
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While the tech mogul had reportedly pledged $45 million per month to support Trump, he later said his giving would be “at a much lower level.” But exactly how much of his own money Musk poured into the super PAC has been a mystery — until now.
Musk made three contributions to America PAC totaling $15 million in July, three contributions totaling $30 million in July and a $30 million contribution in September, according to a third-quarter report filed Tuesday with the Federal Election Commission.
No other contributors were disclosed during that period.
This is the first report the super PAC has been required to file since mid-July, with another disclosure due Oct. 24 covering Oct. 1 through Oct. 16.
Musk has been an active pro-Trump megaphone on his social media platform X, and America PAC has played a key role in the Trump campaign’s ground game in swing states.
Click to Read: Musk to hold multiple events in PA this Week to get out the vote!
Musk has recently turned his focus to Pennsylvania, which he reportedly believes is the key to Trump’s victory.
Since the meme-making rally in Butler, Pa., earlier this month, Musk has said he plans to make more appearances in the battleground state in the final stretch of the election. He has also moved his operations base to Pennsylvania and is talking to the former president multiple times per week, The New York Times reported last Friday.
Trump recently applauded Musk’s efforts, calling him “fantastic”at a rally in Scranton earlier this month.
Tomorrow night through Monday, I will be giving a series of talks throughout Pennsylvania.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 16, 2024
If you’d like to attend one of my talks, there’s no attendance fee. You just need to have signed our petition supporting free speech & right to bear arms & have voted in this election. https://t.co/2cjdY7oPtB
