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- Trump is leaning on Elon Musk’s super PAC to get out the vote.
- The Trump campaign said its turnout operation continues to expand and praised Musk’s “genius.”
- The billionaire has become a key surrogate for Trump’s reelection bid.
After walking onstage in Folsom, Pennsylvania, as country music blared, Elon Musk stood in front of a giant American flag and delivered a dire warning to the hushed crowd.
The 2024 election would determine “the fate of Western civilization,” he told the crowd last Thursday during a town hall in the “linchpin” swing state — and he said the race would be tight.
In Pennsylvania, this could mean a difference of “10,000 votes, it could be 1,000 votes, it could be 10 votes,” Musk said. “So every incremental person makes a huge difference.”
Musk is doing more than just speeches to turn out those voters.
Musk’s America PAC has become a key component of the Trump campaign’s get-out-the-vote efforts, according to multiple reports.
While the Trump campaign has its own volunteer operation called Trump Force 47, it has increasingly focused on harnessing supporters as poll watchers, paving the way for legal challenges to the election, according to The New York Times.
Musk’s super PAC support is the latest way the billionaire, who formally endorsed Trump in July, is throwing his massive influence — and wallet — behind the former president as Election Day nears.
Musk has become increasingly key to Trump’s campaign
Musk established America PAC to support Trump and other GOP candidates, contributing $75 million of his own money in just the most recent filing period, according to Federal Election Commission records.
At one point, Musk hoped his PAC could get more than 5,000 canvassers to reel in between 800,000 and 1 million votes for Trump in swing states, The Times reported, with a focus on unregistered or inconsistent voters.
Musk has been hitting the stump himself in Pennsylvania, offering $1 million daily giveaways to voters in swing states those who sign a petition.
Trump — who has trashed Musk in the past — is now basking in the billionaire’s support, floating a role for Musk in his administration to cut government spending.
“He’s a great patriot, he’s a brilliant guy, too,” Trump said last week at a campaign event in Atlanta.
Trump’s campaign has followed suit with the praise and touted Musk’s support in numerous fundraising appeals.
“I LOVE ELON MUSK! He’s great,” the campaign said in a text message to potential donors Saturday, urging them to “go dark MAGA.”
The Trump campaign said turnout efforts continue to expand
A Trump campaign spokesperson told BI that its Trump Force 47 turnout operation has 33,000 volunteers and counting.
Its efforts are focused on low-propensity voters and early voting, the spokesperson said, adding that “allied efforts will knock on a projected 15 million doors” across battleground states.
The campaign did not clarify how much of those efforts would come from super PACs.
But some of America PAC’s canvassing efforts may be experiencing setbacks. The Guardian reported that roughly 25% of door-knocking efforts in Arizona and Nevada were flagged as false, with canvassers claiming to visit houses they hadn’t.
America PAC did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider. It denied to The Guardian it was experiencing fraud at the levels reported.
In a joint statement, the canvassing firms hired by America PAC told the Guardian they were “fully confident in the authenticity of our door counts” and added that they were “on pace to exceed every single one of our door goals.”
The Harris campaign’s more traditional ground approach
The Kamala Harris campaign, meanwhile, is taking a more traditional approach to its field operations as polls remain historically tight.
Harris’ battleground states director Dan Kanninen told The Washington Post that it’s hired 2,500 staff in more than 350 swing state offices for its ground operation, along with “hundreds of thousands of volunteers.”
Kanninen likened Trump’s ground game to “phone calls and spam from telemarketers,” telling The Post that the reliance on paid operations from outside groups was “just not very effective.”
The Harris campaign did not immediately respond to a request seeking more details about its ground game efforts or its thoughts on Musk’s contributions.
