--- title: "Elon Musk’s $160 Million Bid to Get People to Vote for Donald Trump Was a Complete Disaster" description: "Elon Musk's $160 million bid to convince voters to vote for Donald Trump has been a dumpster fire, the Wall Street Journal reports." date: "2024-08-13" modified: "2024-08-13" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/elon-musk-vote-donald-trump-disaster" categories: - "Elon Musk" - "Future Society" - "The Industrialists" tags: - "donald trump" - "elon musk" - "tesla" - "the digest" --- # Elon Musk’s $160 Million Bid to Get People to Vote for Donald Trump Was a Complete Disaster ![Elon Musk's $160 million bid to convince voters to vote for Donald Trump has been a dumpster fire, the Wall Street Journal reports.]() *\Image: Apu Gomes/Getty Images/Futurism\* ## Pulling a Musk Now that he has [fully endorsed]() the far right by throwing his full weight behind the election of former president and fellow notorious liar Donald Trump, multi-hyphenate CEO Elon Musk is deep in the trenches. As the [*Wall Street Journal* reports](), Musk has been talking about raising an army of thousands of workers as part of his $160 million [pro-Trump super political-action committee]() (PAC) called America PAC. But just three months in, he fired almost all of the vendors, just for the PAC to rehire one of them — exactly the kind of characteristic and highly chaotic mismanagement [Musk has become known for](). ## Unconvinced The timing couldn't be worse, as the *WSJ* points out: we're less than three months away from the presidential election and America PAC is still reeling from a hard reset. Even the group's original, Texas-based donors were ditched in [favor of veterans of former Ron DeSantis supporters](), who [decided to call it quits in January](). But trouble started brewing quickly within America PAC's ranks. The committee burned through cash, per the *WSJ*, ultimately leading to an email being sent out to most of the group's vendors, informing them that they had been fired. According to the report, Musk was aiming to convince some 800,000 voters to vote for Trump in key swing states. But whether the PAC got anywhere near that remains unclear at best. In an [interview]() with far-right provocateur Jordan Peterson last month, Musk claimed that America PAC was "not meant" to be "hyperpartisan" and the "intent is to promote the principles that made America great in the first place." But by throwing his weight behind a convicted felon, who is trying to [pander to the cryptocurrency community](), [Tesla fanboys](), and [gun-toting rednecks](), Musk is putting his true, hyperpartisan colors on full display. Besides the sheer moral bankruptcy of Trump's reelection campaign, Musk is also actively burning bridges and turning a blind eye to his own ventures by pursuing national politics. Particularly at Tesla, the mercurial CEO's hard turn to the far right has raised alarm bells, with [business clients]() and [individual customers alike]() becoming disgusted with the brand's new MAGA image. **More on Elon Musk:** *[Zoomers Think Teslas Aren't "Cool" Anymore, Survey Finds]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()