Elon Musk was the sole funder of a super PAC formed in the final weeks of the election that spent millions on ads claiming that Donald Trump’s position on abortion was aligned with that of the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
The $20.5 million Musk invested in that group, RBG PAC, represented only a small fraction of his total political spending this year, which included $238 million for a super PAC he founded and millions more for other groups. republicans.
In total, the world’s richest person poured more than $260 million into the 2024 election, making him likely the largest single political donor of the cycle.
Musk’s involvement with his group, America PAC, was well known: The tech CEO appeared at events in swing states, posted about the super PAC on X, and held very public giveaways. But RBG PAC (and Musk’s involvement in it) was more secretive. He invested $20.5 million in the group on Oct. 24, an amount that was not disclosed until he filed a campaign finance report with the Federal Election Commission late Thursday. The timing of the donation meant that Musk’s support did not have to be revealed until after the election, and neither he nor the group publicly touted their endorsement.
RBG PAC spent almost all of its money on advertising. Their ads claimed that Ginsburg, the liberal justice and staunch supporter of women’s rights who died in 2020, was “of one mind” with Trump on the issue of abortion. Their website featured photos of Trump and Ginsburg with the caption “great minds think alike.”
The justices largely avoid speaking publicly about presidential politics, but Ginsburg’s dying wish in 2020 was that Trump not replace her on the court, her granddaughter said. Trump replaced her with Amy Coney Barrett shortly before the 2020 election; Barrett was in the judicial majority that voted to overturn Roe v. Wade two years later.
The flurry of advertising from RBG PAC came in the final weeks of this year’s election, after Democrats spent months (years) attacking Trump over the abortion issue after the court led by judges he appointed overturned Roeprompting more than a dozen states to ban the procedure.
Musk, who is set to advise Trump under the banner of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, became a major political player this year, endorsing Trump and appearing alongside him on the campaign trail. His spending went primarily to the presidential race, but he also spent millions on secondary elections.
His America PAC raised $252 million during the cycle. His latest spending push included nearly $41 million related to the petition the group circulated, with Musk promising $1 million gifts to certain signers and smaller checks to others they recommended voters sign. The group also spent tens of millions on campaigning and mailings in the presidential race, and a few million dollars in more than a dozen House races.
In late October, Musk also donated $3 million to a super PAC linked to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and $924,600 to Trump’s 47 Committee, his first direct donation to Trump’s operation. That joint fundraising committee sends money to the Trump campaign, as well as the Republican National Committee and other Republican groups.
This year, Musk also previously donated $1 million to the GOP-linked super PAC Early Vote Action and several hundred thousand dollars to a joint fundraising committee affiliated with the representative. Ken Calvert (R-California).
