Elon Musk isn’t spending $45 million a month to elect former President Donald Trump, even though he has created a new super political action committee (PAC) to fund the billionaire Republican candidate told conservative commentator Jordan Peterson during an interview Monday night.
During the interview, which was hosted on Musk’s platform, Musk – who has previously criticized Trump and called him a “bull in a china shop” – paused to correct the “media”.
“What is being reported in the media is simply not true,” Musk said. “I’m not donating $45 million a month to Trump.”
The Wall Street Journal First reported about the claim, citing sources “familiar with the matter.” The outlet has not yet issued a retraction or follow-up article changing its reporting.
Musk did note that he has created a super PAC called the America PAC to help support Trump. A super PAC is a group that can raise unlimited funds for a campaign’s independent expenses, such as advertising or day-to-day operations, but does not donate directly to the campaign. They have become prominent among both Democrats and Republicans since a 2010 DC appeals court ruling decision which authorized the existence of the super PACS. For a typical PAC, donors are limited to donations of just $5,000 per year.
Several tech company leaders have donated to America PAC, including Ken Howery, an early executive at Paypal along with Musk, Antonio Gracias, a private equity leader, Shuan Maguire of Sequoia Capital, and the Winklevoss twins.
The super PAC is also led in part by Joe Lonsdale, co-founder of the software company Palantir and politically ambitious venture capitalist in Austin who is close to Musk. according to to the New York Times.
The Austin-based America PAC “shouldn’t be some kind of hyper-partisan” organization, Musk said. He said he is not part of MAGA — or Make America Great Again, Trump’s campaign slogan — but that his principles are aligned with “MAG”: Make America Greater.
“I don’t prescribe it [a] personality cult,” Musk said. But he added that Trump showed “great courage” after he was shot by an attempted assassin on July 13, and that strength is helping to intimidate America’s enemies.
Additionally, Musk spoke about the “core values” that make America great, which he believes the Republican Party embodies more than the Democrats.
“One of those values is meritocracy, as much meritocracy as possible, so that you get ahead based on your skills and nothing else,” Musk said.
He also added that one of the principles the PAC aligned itself with was “freedom,” specifically freedom from “as much government intervention as possible.” The government’s hand is getting heavier every year, and if we don’t roll back certain restrictions and regulations, eventually “everything will be illegal,” Musk said.
When Peterson pressed Musk on why he was switching to Trump after long voting for the Democrats, Musk said the Democrats had become the party of censorship.
He also criticized a lawsuit the Justice Department — under President Joe Biden’s administration — filed against his company SpaceX last year, alleging that Musk discouraged refugees and asylum seekers from applying for jobs at the aerospace company. A court order later prevented the US from pursuing the lawsuit.
