The ethics and legality of billionaires getting involved in politics have always been questionable, but Elon Musk and Donald Trump made these questions more relevant than ever during Trump’s last campaign.
Musk was extremely vocal about his support for Trump, and, according to a CNN report, he spent nearly $300 million on the election. Sure, that’s pocket change when you’re the world’s richest man, but the use of such an amount of money is where the controversy lies. Once again, it seems Musk has successfully found another “gray area” around the law, and in true Musk fashion, he’s the one who’s constantly shooting himself in the foot with his braggadocio.
What is Elon Musk’s petition?
In 2024, Elon Musk founded America PAC, a Super PAC, to support Donald Trump’s campaign. A Super PAC, or independent expenditure-only political action committee, is a PAC that is allowed to raise unlimited funds to support or oppose a campaign but isn’t allowed to directly donate to a campaign or party. Musk used this Super PAC to run campaign ads for Trump for months leading up to the election, but that isn’t what it is most known for.
In October 2024, America PAC launched a petition supporting the First Amendment rights to freedom of speech and the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms. What made this petition important was that Musk promised a $47 reward for every referral of a registered voter to the petition. The petition specifically targeted registered voters in swing states, and following the initial announcement, Musk announced that he would be giving checks of $1m to registered voters who signed the petition daily until the election. The referral reward was also increased from $47 to $100.
Musk gave the first million-dollar check to an attendee at an event in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and continued to make payouts to at least 11 other people. However, following a lawsuit against Musk and the PAC by Philadelphia district attorney Larry Krasner, Musk’s lawyers revealed that the winners were not chosen by chance. Chris Gober, Musk’s attorney, said the winners were, “selected based on their suitability to serve as spokesperson for America PAC.” Despite losing the lawsuit, Krasner accused the giveaway of being, “political marketing masquerading as a lottery.”
Did Musk send the money?
The legality of the PAC’s giveaway was heavily questioned and even taken to court. As stated earlier, Musk was sued by Larry Krasner, but the district attorney lost the lawsuit, and Musk was allowed to continue his “giveaway.” Although the ruling came just a day before the elections, Musk and his team still counted it as a victory.
The question of whether the giveaway was legal or not is murky, especially because of the wording of it. It technically only promises money to anyone who signs it, but the condition that people have to be registered voters to sign raises questions. According to the constitution, it is illegal to pay people to register to vote. As Musk’s giveaway is only open to registered voters, it indirectly serves as an incentive for people to register. While Musk was somehow able to get away with this gray area, did he actually send out the money?
America PAC reported on X that they had sent out more than 87,000 checks to people who referred others to the petition and that an additional 100,000 were to be sent out. The PAC didn’t give a detailed report of just how many signatures it received, but Musk’s goal with the petition was to get a million swing state voters to sign.
A report from Fox 43 revealed that real people were receiving the referral checks, even people who hadn’t signed the petition. One woman named Jeanie Fermier spoke to the outlet about how she had received a $100 check on election day, despite never signing the petition. This raised suspicions of Musk buying signatures or using voters’ data to pad out his petition. However, it is more likely that Fermier was a victim of fraud from someone who wanted to cash Musk’s money by signing with her information.
