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Elon Musk has made a huge donation to a political organization aligned with former President Donald Trump, officially making him a Republican ‘megadonor.’
Musk Gave $75 million to a super PAC he set up over the past three months, according to election-related financial disclosures, Reuters reported.
America PAC, which aims to mobilize voters in closely contested states that could determine the election outcome, spent approximately $72 million during the July-September period, according to disclosures filed with the Federal Election Commission.
This amount surpasses that of any other pro-Trump super PAC focused on voter turnout. The Trump campaign heavily relies on outside groups for voter canvassing, meaning the super PAC founded by Musk—the world’s richest man—plays a significant role in the tightly contested election between Trump and Democrat nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, Reuters noted further.
Musk, the CEO of electric car manufacturer Tesla, was the only donor to the group during that period.
Although Musk has stated that he has voted for Democratic presidential candidates in the past, he has made a notable shift to the right in this election cycle. He endorsed Trump in July and joined him at a rally in Pennsylvania earlier this month, the outlet noted.
On Wednesday, Musk announced in a post on X that he will be “giving a series of talks” across Pennsylvania, just under two weeks after his appearance with Trump in the state.
He mentioned that people only need to sign a petition on his America PAC website to attend his talks, scheduled from “tomorrow night through Monday.”
Last week, Reuters reported, citing a source, that Musk plans to ramp up his campaigning for Trump in Pennsylvania, which is viewed as a critical state for both Trump and his Democratic opponent, Harris, in the race for the White House.
Musk’s contributions to America PAC elevate him to the ranks of Republican mega-donors, a group that also includes banking heir Timothy Mellon and casino billionaire Miriam Adelson. However, Reuters revealed earlier this month that Musk had been secretly funding a conservative political group for years, long before his public support for Trump.
America PAC aims to motivate Americans who support Trump but do not always vote to participate in this election cycle, employing a high-risk, labor-intensive strategy for the Trump campaign, noted Reuters. The group, which began its efforts later than other PACs in the election cycle, has faced challenges with hiring and its contractors. Since July, it has terminated two major contractors hired to canvass neighborhoods.
Additionally, it has struggled to recruit door knockers in several battleground states, partly because many other canvassing groups had already staffed up by the time America PAC became operational, according to half a dozen sources briefed on the matter, as reported by Reuters.
By the end of September, the group had approximately $4 million remaining in its funds, as indicated by the filings. “Separate filings earlier on Tuesday showed that Miriam Adelson, the casino magnate, donated $95 million to another pro-Trump super PAC, Preserve America PAC, in the same period,” Reuters said.
The Harris campaign and Democrats, meanwhile, have raised substantially more money than Trump and Republicans this cycle, but it doesn’t appear to have made a significant difference.
A brand new poll shows that Trump is leading Harris in five of the seven crucial swing states, which will be crucial in deciding who wins the election. According to an AtlasIntel survey of likely voters in battleground states, Trump leads in Pennsylvania (51 percent to 48.1) and Michigan (50.6 percent to 47.2).
The former president is also in a “narrow” lead in the states that are in doubt: Arizona (49.8 percent to 48.6), Georgia (49.6 percent to 49), and Wisconsin (49.7 percent to 48.2). This information was provided by AtlasIntel. In Nevada (50.5 percent to 47.7) and North Carolina (50.5 percent to 48.1), Harris is ahead.
538 voters chose AtlasIntel as the most reliable polling organization for the 2020 presidential contest. If the Republican takes the five battleground states that he presently leads in their polling, with Harris at 248 Electoral College votes, Trump would win the 2024 election with 290 Electoral College votes.
