Elon Musk’s America PAC: A New Force in the 2024 Presidential Election?

USA (VINnews)-In the spring of 2024, Elon Musk quietly entered the arena of national politics, setting aside an hour every Friday for a new and ambitious project: boosting voter turnout for Donald Trump in key battleground states. This endeavor, spearheaded through a super political-action committee (super PAC) named America PAC, marks Musk’s first significant foray into presidential politics.

The super PAC’s initial strategy was bold. Consultants and vendors proposed a $160 million budget to rally 800,000 voters, with the bulk of the funding expected to come directly from Musk. The plan included deploying an army of over 6,000 canvassers and other workers to ensure a substantial voter turnout in favor of Trump. However, just three months into the effort, chaos ensued. Musk signed off on firing most of the vendors involved, leading to a shakeup that saw one of them rehired amidst the confusion. The Texas-based advisers who had helped establish the group were replaced by seasoned veterans from Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’s recently failed presidential campaign.

Despite these early stumbles, the restructured America PAC remains committed to its mission. The timing of the overhaul, occurring just a month before early voting begins and less than 90 days before the presidential election, has raised concerns among some Republican operatives about the potential impact on Trump’s campaign. Nevertheless, the PAC’s new leadership is confident in their ability to deliver results. Trump’s camp, too, has expressed support for the changes, with senior adviser Chris LaCivita praising the new team on social media.

Musk’s hands-on, chaotic approach to the election effort mirrors his 2022 takeover of Twitter and his early challenges in meeting Tesla’s production goals. Whether this method will succeed in the high-stakes environment of a presidential election remains to be seen. However, Musk’s involvement has already sparked interest among other prominent GOP donors, and his support has not gone unnoticed by Trump himself.

Palantir Technologies co-founder Joe Lonsdale, a longtime Musk ally, played a crucial role in the early stages of America PAC. Lonsdale reassured potential donors that they only needed to contribute enough to cover the PAC’s initial expenses, as a mystery donor—later revealed to be Musk—would finance the remainder of the effort.

As the election approaches, all eyes will be on Musk and his America PAC to see if they can indeed turn the tide in favor of Donald Trump. Musk is scheduled to interview Trump on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Monday night, further signaling his deepening involvement in the 2024 race.