US Elections 2024: Elon Musk, billionaire and a South African immigrant to the US, has donated to a super political action committee (Super PAC) working to elect vocally anti-immigrant Republican Party presidential candidate Donald Trump to the White House, Bloomberg reported, citing sources. While the amount donated is unknown, the sources said it was "sizable".
The report called Musk's contribution to the America PAC a "major gambit" into the US political space by the world’s richest person, worth $263.6 billion as per the Bloomberg Billionaire Index (BBI). The PAC will disclose its list of donors on July 15, it added.
Bloomberg added that Musk did not respond to queries., while the Trump campaign and America PAC treasurer Chris Gober declined to comment. Musk did not respond to Reuters queries either.
Current US President and Democratic Party candidate Joe Biden's campaign spokesman James Singer told Reuters, "Musk knows Trump is a sucker who will sell America out, cutting his taxes while raising taxes on the middle class by $2,500. Joe Biden has been standing up to people like Elon and fighting for the middle class his entire career — and it’s why he’ll win in November."
Notably, Trump has already overtaken Biden in terms of fundraising from "deep-pocketed Wall Street and corporate donors", the Bloomberg report added. Biden's campaign took a hit after a disastrous debate outing that caught him slurring speech and seemingly unable to speak with clarity, while Trump went bombastic with his lies.
And while Musk has been critical of Biden on his social media site X (formerly known as Twitter), he has yet to publically declare his support for any presidential candidate in the upcoming US elections in November 2024. He has previously said he "prefers to stay out of politics" but has been engaging with and blasting right-leaning views on X.
In March too, Musk and Trump met at a gathering with business heads, after which the Tesla CEO in a post on X claimed he is "not donating money to either candidate". In May, he again denied conversations about an advisory role in Trump's presidency.
In the past, Musk and Trump have clashed on electric vehicles and cryptocurrency, but during Tesla's annual meet in June, the tech mogul discussed his relationship with Trump, saying: “He does call me out of the blue for no reason.” Musk also said they had "some conversations" and Trump is a “huge fan of the Cybertrucks.”
Trump meanwhile has pledged to reverse Biden's EV push, but added: "I'm a big fan of electric cars. I'm a fan of Elon. He does an incredible job with Tesla."
The decision to bat for Trump's campaign may be seen now as a sign that Musk's deep pockets give the Republicans a "financial juggernaut", the report added.
America PAC is the biggest spender on direct voter contacts for Trump among outside organisations and focuses on door-to-door efforts. It has spent $15.8 million so far, with $13.1 million of that going for field operations, as per federal records Bloomberg reported. It has also paid for digital media, texting and phone calls to reach voters.
(With inputs from Bloomberg and Reuters)
