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Elon Musk\u2019s America PAC is starting to fire up its digital ad campaign in support of Donald Trump\u2019s presidential bid. The messages so far have been targeted at swing-state voters \u2014 and are anything but subtle.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you sit this election out, Kamala and the crazies will win,\u201d says\u00a0an ad<\/a>\u00a0on Google\u2019s YouTube<\/a>, which has been shown at least three million times. \u201cYou will be stuck with higher costs and more illegals invading our country.\u201d It paints Trump, by contrast, as an \u201cAmerican Badass,\u201d with a video of the former president after the July assassination attempt that drove Musk to publicly support his candidacy.<\/p>\n \u201cWe must STOP Kamala while we can,\u201d reads an America PAC\u00a0ad<\/a>\u00a0on Meta Platforms Inc.\u2019s Facebook<\/a>, where Musk\u2019s PAC has deployed the vast majority of its digital ad spend. \u201cArizona families have had ENOUGH of radical liberals.\u201d<\/p>\n Another ad on Facebook includes a voice-over with a Russian accent: \u201cMeet Comrade Kamala,\u201d the 30-second\u00a0video<\/a>\u00a0says. \u201cReady to bring Soviet Union to Michigan.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n And on X<\/a>, the platform Musk bought in 2022 for $44 billion,\u00a0one ad<\/a>\u00a0suggests, without evidence, the former president\u2019s political opponents \u201ctried to kick Trump off your ballot. They even tried to end his campaign and take him out for good.\u201d<\/p>\n America PAC\u2019s first several ad buys point to a campaign targeting decisive areas and demographics that both Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris need to win the presidency. America PAC was among the top 10 US political advertisers on Facebook for the week ending Sept. 3, according to\u00a0Meta\u2019s ad library<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n As the US presidential race enters its final sprint, many in Washington and across the country are especially focused on how Musk, the world\u2019s richest person with a $236.8 billion fortune, will wield his money and power to influence the campaign. This week, Trump vowed to establish a task force to review federal expenditures, an idea recommended by Musk, the chief executive officer of Tesla<\/a> Inc. and SpaceX<\/a>.<\/p>\n Musk publicly endorsed Trump on July 13, hours after the assassination attempt on the Republican candidate\u2019s life in Pennsylvania. Besides pledging millions of dollars to the super PAC he created, Musk hosted Trump for a wide-ranging campaign event on X and has emerged as one of his loudest supporters this election cycle.\u00a0<\/p>\n America PAC didn\u2019t immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n Musk did not respond to an email seeking comment about his PAC\u2019s digital campaign. This week, the billionaire quoted himself saying that \u201ca Trump victory is essential.\u201d<\/p>\n America PAC has spent around $1.4 million for ads on Facebook and Instagram since it registered in May, according to Meta\u2019s spending tracker. In the seven days ending Sept. 3, it spent more than $251,000, with the bulk of the ads in North Carolina, Arizona, and Georgia \u2014 three states where some polls show Harris has overtaken Trump.<\/p>\n Musk\u2019s America PAC began its Facebook ad blitz in July, with a focus on contrasting the economic plans of President Joe Biden and Trump. One Facebook ad said Trump \u201cwill unleash the production of domestic energy resources, reduce the price of gasoline and natural gas, promote energy security, and ensure that our nation is never at the mercy of foreign countries for energy.\u201d<\/p>\n After the assassination attempt on Trump, the ads continued switched their messaging to extolling Trump as a brave, defiant fighter with the now famous\u00a0fist-in-the-air photo<\/a>. Only in the last two weeks have the ads started attacking Harris directly, including video ads on Facebook featuring her laugh or painting her as a radical, with prompts to make sure Trump supporters have a voting plan.<\/p>\n America PAC\u2019s Google ad campaign began in August, with most of the $281,400\u00a0the campaign had spent<\/a>\u00a0as of Friday afternoon going toward YouTube video ads, particularly targeting Georgia, Arizona, North Carolina, Nevada and Wisconsin.\u00a0<\/p>\n The \u201cAmerican Badass\u201d ad on YouTube was targeting men in North Carolina between the ages of 18 and 34, according to Google\u2019s ad demographics. The same ad was shown in Arizona more than 1.5 million times to the same target audience.<\/p>\n Musk\u2019s own social media platform has also been a beneficiary, but to a smaller extent. The political action committee\u2019s spending on X has totaled about $80,000 through Sept. 4, according to the most\u00a0recent disclosure<\/a>\u00a0from X\u2019s website. Since Biden dropped out of the race and Harris became the Democratic nominee, X\u2019s ads have largely focused on turning out voters in Georgia and Nevada.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cYou can put a stop to Kamala\u2019s chaos,\u201d says an\u00a0America PAC ad on X<\/a>. \u201cMake your plan to vote today and help President Trump win Georgia.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Another ad on X, geared toward voters in Nevada,\u00a0says<\/a>\u00a0\u201cKamala laughs while Americans suffer.\u201d<\/p>\n While Musk has almost 200 million followers on X, so far his PAC doesn\u2019t have the same support. It has about 300 followers on Instagram and roughly 1,200 on X. America PAC\u00a0only follows<\/a>\u00a0one account on X: YouTube star\u00a0MrBeast<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nRecommended reading:<\/strong>
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