Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC is stepping up against Harris

“If you quit this election, Kamala and the crazies will win,” says a Google YouTube ad that has been viewed at least three million times. “You will be stuck with higher costs and more illegals invading our country.” Instead, Trump is painting him as an “American Tass,” with a video of the former president following the July assassination attempt that prompted Musk to publicly endorse his candidacy.

“We must STOP Kamala while we can,” reads an America PAC ad on Meta Platforms Inc.’s Facebook page, where Musk’s PAC has spent the vast majority of its digital ad spending. “Arizona families have had ENOUGH of radical liberals.”

Another Facebook ad features a Russian-accented voiceover: “Meet Comrade Kamala,” the 30-second video says. “Ready to bring the Soviet Union to Michigan.”

And on X, the platform Musk bought in 2022 for $44 billion, an ad suggests, without evidence, that the former president’s political opponents “tried to get Trump off your ballot. They even tried to end his campaign and take him out for good.”

The PAC’s first ad buys in America point to a campaign targeting swing areas and demographics that both Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris need to win the presidency. America PAC was among the top 10 US political advertisers on Facebook for the week ending Sept. 3, according to ad library Meta.

As the US presidential race enters its final sprint, many in Washington and across the country are particularly focused on how Musk, the world’s richest person with a fortune of $236.8 billion, will spend his money and power to influence the campaign. This week, Trump promised to set up a task force to review federal spending, an idea recommended by Musk, the chief executive of Tesla Inc. and SpaceX.

Musk publicly endorsed Trump on July 13, hours after the assassination attempt on the Republican candidate’s life in Pennsylvania. In addition to pledging millions of dollars to the super PAC he created, Musk hosted Trump for a large campaign event on X and became one of his strongest supporters this election cycle.

America PAC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Musk did not respond to an email seeking comment about the PAC’s digital campaign. This week, the billionaire was quoted as saying that “a Trump victory is essential.”

America PAC has spent about $1.4 million on Facebook and Instagram ads since it registered in May, according to spend tracker Meta. In the seven days ending Sept. 3, he spent more than $251,000, most of it on ads in North Carolina, Arizona and Georgia — three states where some polls show Harris outperforming Trump .

Musk’s America PAC began its Facebook ad blitz in July, focusing on contrasting the economic plans of President Joe Biden and Trump. A Facebook ad said Trump would “unleash domestic energy production, lower the price of gasoline and natural gas, promote energy security and ensure our nation is never at the mercy of foreign countries for energy.”

After the assassination attempt on Trump, the ads continued to shift their messaging to praising Trump as a brave and defiant fighter, with the now-famous shot of his fist in the air. It wasn’t until the past two weeks that ads began directly attacking Harris, including Facebook video ads mocking her or painting her as a radical, with calls to make sure Trump supporters have a plan to vote.

America PAC’s Google ad campaign began in August, with most of the $281,400 the campaign had spent as of Friday afternoon going toward YouTube video ads, specifically targeting Georgia, Arizona, North Carolina, Nevada and Wisconsin .

The “American Badass” ad on YouTube targeted North Carolina males between the ages of 18 and 34, according to Google ad demographics. The same ad was shown in Arizona more than 1.5 million times to the same target audience.

Musk’s own social media platform was also a beneficiary, but to a lesser extent. The political action committee’s spending on X totaled about $80,000 through Sept. 4, according to the most recent disclosure on X’s website. Since Biden dropped out of the race and Harris became the Democratic nominee, X’s ads have they focused mostly on gathering voters in Georgia and Nevada.

“You can end the chaos in Kamala,” says an America PAC ad on X. “Make your plan to vote today and help President Trump win Georgia.”

Another ad on X, aimed at voters in Nevada, says “Kamala laughs while Americans suffer.”

While Musk has nearly 200 million followers on X, so far his PAC doesn’t have the same support. He has about 300 followers on Instagram and about 1,200 on X. America PAC only follows one account on X: YouTube star MrBeast.

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