Posted on 08/02/2024 10:25:52 PM PDT by lasereye
If a voter in Michigan performs a search on Google , a somewhat shocking ad might pop up.
The ad shows a young man lying in bed late at night when someone else texts him, “Hey you need to vote,” and then sends the man a video of the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump. The man can hear the gunshots and people screaming in the background.
As Trump is rushed off stage with blood pouring down his face, the man watching the video types in response, “This is out of control. How do I start?”
The ad then displays a website for a group called America PAC.
The website says it will help the viewer register to vote. But once a user clicks “Register to Vote,” the experience he or she will have can be very different, depending on where they live.
If a user lives in a state that is not considered competitive in the presidential election, like California or Wyoming for example, they’ll be prompted to enter their email addresses and ZIP code and then directed quickly to a voter registration page for their state, or back to the original sign-up section.
But for users who enter a ZIP code that indicates they live in a battleground state, like Pennsylvania or Georgia, the process is very different.
Rather than be directed to their state’s voter registration page, they instead are directed to a highly detailed personal information form, prompted to enter their address, cellphone number and age.
If they agree to submit all that, the system still does not steer them to a voter registration page. Instead, it shows them a “thank you” page.
So that person who wanted help registering to vote? In the end, they got no help at all registering. But they did hand over priceless personal data to a political operation.
Specifically, a political action committee created by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, one aimed at giving the Republican presidential nominee Trump an advantage in his campaign against Vice President Kamala Harris, the de facto Democratic nominee.
“I have created a PAC, or a super PAC ... the America PAC,” Musk said in a recent interview.
Musk also owns the social media platform X, and has a net worth of more than $235 billion, according to Forbes.
The combination of owning a social media company that gives him an enormous platform to push his political views, and creating a PAC with effectively unlimited resources, has made Musk, for the first time, a major force in an American presidential election.
The America PAC has spent more than $800,000 since early July on digital ads that target voters in the key battleground states of Arizona, Michigan, Georgia, North Carolina, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, according to AdImpact.
The ads appeared on Facebook, Instagram and Google through YouTube, and many encouraged people to register to vote at America PAC’s website.
The PAC’s effort to collect information from people using the idea of “voter registration” is a critical piece to its plan to make personal contact with these voters.
“America PAC is focusing on door-to-door canvassing in support of Trump,” said Brendan Fischer, a deputy executive director at campaign finance watchdog Documented.
“I think it is safe to assume that the voter data gathered through these digital appeals are going to inform America PAC’s canvassing and other political activities,” he added.
Fischer pointed to the group’s privacy policy which says it can use the data they’ve collected on “other activities and/or fundraising campaigns.”
Since June, America PAC has spent more than $21 million on canvassing, digital media, text message services and phone calls, according to Federal Election Commission filings.
The PAC’s website offers no indication one way or another what the group’s political leaning is. But in its federal filings, the group discloses that all of its work is designed to either help Trump or hurt his opponent.
Fischer said he has seen some other PACs try to use a “register to vote” message to gather people’s data.
But what is unique about America PAC’s project is who is backing it and the timing of its creation.
In most cases, super PACs are not allowed to directly coordinate the ads they pay for with the campaign. But this spring, regulators ruled that door-to-door canvassing falls outside the scope of the ban because, unlike an ad, it is a person-to-person exchange.
“What makes America PAC more unique: it is a billionaire-backed super PAC focused on door-to-door canvassing, which it can conduct in coordination with a presidential campaign,” Fischer said. “Thanks to a recent FEC advisory opinion, America PAC may legally coordinate its canvassing activities with the Trump campaign — meaning, among other things, that the Trump campaign may provide America PAC with the literature and scripts to make sure their efforts are consistent.”
“Coordination is incredibly important: it ensures that the PAC’s activities are maximally beneficial to the campaign, and frees up the campaign’s own funds for other uses,” he said. “I suspect that the PAC’s ability to coordinate its data-driven canvassing activities with the Trump campaign made it very appealing for donors.”
Longtime Republican strategists Phil Cox, Generra Peck and Dave Rexrode are among those now guiding the PAC after a shake-up in mid-July, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter. This person was granted anonymity to speak freely about a private matter.
The change suggests there could be a shift in tactics by the PAC come November. The New York Times first reported on the moves.
Musk is not the only tech executive backing this effort.
The America PAC raised more than $8 million between April 1 and June 30, according to FEC records. It has received donations from veteran investor Doug Leone, cryptocurrency investors Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, and a company run by longtime venture capitalist Joe Lonsdale, according to FEC records.
Lonsdale, a co-founder of the software company Palantir, is also a leader of the PAC, and “serves as a political confidant to” Musk, according to the Times.
The records do not yet list Musk as a donor. He recently said on X that he is “making some donations to America PAC,” but did not say how much. The PAC is not required to file a third-quarter report until Oct. 15, the first time that Musk’s name could be listed as a donor.
A spokesman for America PAC declined to comment. Musk did not return emails seeking comment.
The PAC’s ads that have aired on social media platforms also mirror a larger message that Musk pushes out to his 191 million followers on X several times a day: the notion that America is in chaos and voting for Trump over Harris is the only way out.
″These PACs have often functioned as the alter ego of whatever billionaire is behind them,” said Daniel Weiner, a director of the Brennan Center’s elections and government program.
Experts say Musk’s ownership of X and the lack of any real guardrails around how he uses it, are a sign the platform could be used by the Tesla boss as a political weapon to take on Harris and Democrats at large with fewer than 100 days left until Election Day.
“I’d say that it is somewhat concerning that the owner of one of the most important social media platforms is openly partisan (rooting for one of the candidates) and is using his platform ... as a vehicle for pursuing his openly partisan ends,” said Matthew Baum, a professor at the Harvard Kennedy School, whose research includes studying misinformation.
Baum said such ownership of a social media company like X leaves open the possibility of “capture of a major platform by a partisan actor, who would then be largely free to use the platform as they see fit, regardless of the potential negative social or political consequences.”
“There is a concern that Musk is weaponizing that platform to help his preferred candidate” in Trump, said Weiner.
It seems weird to have a giant corporation with so much presence and influence on our side, it isn’t something we are used to.
“If a user lives in a state that is not considered competitive in the presidential election, like California or Wyoming for example”
Every state is competitive, maybe if the Republicans actually cared about states like New York they might get somewhere there
How do we donate? Sign me up.
ESAD, Comcast
And someone with his own space program, so that if all else fails we can send the leftists to Mars (though I’d prefer a trajectory directly into the sun).
I have no interest in buying one of Mr Musk’s electric vehicles, but I thank God for Musk and all that he’s doing to try to save the country from disaster.
I went to their website but it doesn't have a place to donate. You can click on the OPT IN link and give your information. Maybe they would ask for money when they contact you.
>> This is why it’s nice to have Musk on your side.
Exactly. Told Mrs. Tick a month ago that it’s not just Musk’s money that will be helpful... it’s his talent and ability too.
Long past time for the (R)ighteous team to practice legal and ethical GOTV activities.
Exactly! the Dems have all of the MSM FB, Google on their side.
Now if someone doens’t want to donate to this PAC maybe try this young man this young man: Scott Pressler he helped defeat Hillary Clinton and is now registering voters to help Trump win, https://earlyvoteaction.com/
see more about him here
pressler https://x.com/ScottPresler
Or For true Catholics, (not Catholics in Name Only ) that are supporting Trump with ads and get out the vote
See CatholicVote.com
What an amateur!!
You don’t win the presidency with one social media network.
You need all broadcast channels, every newspaper, every college professor and 99% of the legal ‘profession’ to put out your message exclusively.
Much of effective Trump lawyering has been sidelined by Democrat schemes.
I’d say that ALL lawyers specializing in “Immigration law” are working AGAINST Trump.
Good info. Thanks.
Does CNBC investigate all PACs, or just conservative-leaning ones? Bias, much?
ComDems are crying and calling fowl to the GOP using PACs to compete with the huge ComDem Donors (many high tech company owners) to fraudulent vote gathering systems.
Well, Trump won in 2016 without all of that. He went direct to the voters and bypassed MSN.
We can do this.
Information is crucial, names, phone numbers(yes I do hate all the texts from…) emails and voter history is clutch
Bongino has talked repeatedly about how important and expensive this info can be.
He talks about canvassing neighborhoods when running for election and being asked why they were skipping these homes. Knowing who is a potential voter and who is a lost cause is very important when time and money are limited
It is a waste of time and resources to knock on a leftists door, as well as potential bad for your health as I have said leftist are the most loving, tolerant, and inclusive folks as long as you completely agree with them, otherwise you are a racist, facist, phobic, misogynistic pig and you might just get punched or shot
There’s got to be a way to use some sort of quantum voter-roll analysis (at least in the swing states) to find voters using nonresidential addresses being used by multiple voters. And once this list is developed, if state officials don’t disqualify these voters, Republican Party officials can file a legal case against them should they vote.
And they have taken control of the cultural stuff,too.
.. Sports channels..including olympics..cable tv..... big tech..education...Disney.. boy scouts..
All of which has a political bend.
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