Musk: I Never Said I'd Give $45M a Month to Trump

But SpaceX CEO says he did set up a super PAC to help fund GOP nominee
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 24, 2024 8:55 AM CDT
Musk Pushes Back on Trump Donations Report
Elon Musk appears at an event on Nov. 2 in London.   (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, Pool, File)

In his sit-down Monday with Canadian conservative commentator Jordan Peterson, Elon Musk attracted lots of buzz with his comments on the "woke mind virus" that he claims led his transgender daughter astray. However, the SpaceX and Tesla CEO also cleared up reporting that he'd pledged to funnel $45 million a month to help GOP nominee Donald Trump get back into the Oval Office. "What's been reported in the media is simply not true," Musk told Peterson. "I am not donating $45 million a month to Trump."

Fortune notes that the Wall Street Journal originally filed that report, citing "people familiar with the matter." On X, Musk continued to push back on the Journal's reporting, calling it "totally fake" and "ridiculous." However, Musk does acknowledge that he formed a super PAC, the America PAC, to lend support to Trump. "I am making some donations to America PAC, but at a much lower level and the key values of the PAC are supporting a meritocracy & individual freedom," Musk wrote on X, per the Hill. "Republicans are mostly, but not entirely, on the side of merit & freedom."

Musk told Peterson that the super PAC isn't "hyperpartisan" and that "I don't prescribe to [a] cult of personality," noting he considers himself more "MAG," or "Make America Greater," than MAGA (Make America Great Again). Musk did add, however, that he thought Trump showed "great courage" after the assassination attempt against him earlier this month, which Musk says would surely intimidate US foes. Musk recently offered his endorsement of Trump, after previously saying he wouldn't donate to presidential candidates of either party in the 2024 race. (More Elon Musk stories.)

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