Elon Musk gives $70 million to boost Donald Trump

WASHINGTON (AP) – Elon Muska technology mogul and the richest person in the world, has poured more than $70 million into aid Donald Trump and other Republicans are winning in the November election, making him one of the biggest donors to Republican causes this campaign season, according to campaign finance disclosures released this week.

Musk donated over the summer to America PAC, a super political action committee he launched in May to support Trump in his bid to return to the White House. It quickly became a central player in Trump's election efforts.

“America PAC strives only for common sense and centrist values,” the Space X and Tesla founder said on his social media platform on Tuesday

Super PACs like Musk's America PAC can raise and spend unlimited amounts of money, but they are typically prohibited from coordinating their efforts with the candidates they support. A current statement from Federal Election Commissionwhich governs political campaigns at the federal level, allowed candidates and these big-spending groups to work together in so-called ground game efforts, which involve armies of people knocking on doors to help cast votes.

While candidates and political parties have traditionally organized and paid for such efforts, Trump's campaign has struggled to raise money this year and has turned to a handful of outside groups to take on the work, most notably Musk's America PAC.

But in doing so, the campaign has outsourced a core function to a group of untested groups operating independently. Governor of Florida. Ron DeSantis The decision was to recruit an outside group for him should be one of the reasons his presidential candidacy failed.

According to campaign finance disclosures, America PAC has spent more than $38 million on voter outreach to date.

Much of America PAC's money was paid to a handful of consulting firms, including some linked to Phil Cox, a former DeSantis presidential campaign aide and former executive director of the Republican Governors Association. Companies under the umbrella of Cox's various companies have raised at least $21 million since August, records show.

Trump's outsourcing of much of his campaign efforts is not the only unorthodox strategy his campaign has pursued this year. His campaign and allies have also jettisoned the traditional approach to voting, which typically focused on winning over independent or moderate voters. Instead, they are trying to boost turnout among Trump supporters who rarely vote, a novel if risky approach.

Although Musk is America PAC's largest donor, he is not the only one. The super PAC also raised about $8.75 million from a handful of wealthy donors, including the Winklevoss twins Tyler and Cameron, the controversial founders of Facebook.

The super PAC has spent nearly $80 million this year. Although most of the spending went toward the presidential election, at least $5 million was spent to help Republican House candidates.