Dec. 15, 2024
By Jacob Collins Dodd
Staff Writer
Donald Trump won the presidential election on Nov. 5, only 21 days before his criminal sentencing was scheduled on 34 felony convictions of falsifying business records to conceal a hush money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels.
Despite Trump’s plethora of moral shortcomings—from being found liable for raping advice columnist E. Jean Carroll to platforming a comedian at his Madison Square Garden rally who called Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage”—he was elected as president, thanks to the world’s wealthiest individual, Elon Musk.
He used his wealth and power over the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, to influence political opinion and elect a convicted felon.
Musk’s reward: a top role in the Department of Government Efficiency, which Trump created and announced on Nov. 12.
This election spotlighted an unfortunate reality: even democracy’s most sacred principles can be bought by a
magnate whose values do not align with working-class Americans.
On July 21, President Joe Biden ended his presidential campaign and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris following increasing pressure from the Democratic Party for him to drop out. At the beginning of her campaign, Harris pledged to tax billionaires like Musk and raise the corporate tax rate while offering incentives like $25,000 down-payment assistance for first-time homebuyers.
Later that month, Musk founded America PAC to financially support Trump’s bid for reelection and aid other Republican candidates in various states. From July to October, the PAC invested over $3 million into Facebook and Instagram advertisements, many of which were aimed against Harris. One of the advertisements even refers to Harris as a communist.
These political maneuvers betray the essence of democratic freedom.
In October, Musk gave away $1 million per day in battleground states to new or registered voters who signed a petition pledging support for the First and Second Amendments, immediately drawing scrutiny from election law experts who said this could qualify as election interference.
Similarly, propped up by significant funding from Musk, a GOP-linked group called Future Coalition PAC targeted Muslim voters in battleground states, promoting opposing advertisements about Harris’ political positions regarding the Israel-Gaza conflict.
In areas of Michigan with relatively large Muslim populations, Future Coalition PAC depicted Harris as an ally of Israel. Whereas in parts of Pennsylvania that have relatively large Jewish populations, the advertisements said Harris “panders to Palestine.”
The group spent more than $35 million to retract support from vital demographic groups that would benefit the Harris campaign, notably younger men and Muslim Americans, according to the New York Times.
From August to October, a group called Building America’s Future, funded by Republican political operatives, impersonated the Harris campaign and created Progress 2028, an initiative that has poured over $100 million into Building America’s Future and Progress 2028, according to the New York Times.
Since Oct. 11, several digital posts and messages on Facebook and Instagram with the disclaimer “paid for by Progress 2028” were sent out. Fabricating Harris’ policy positions, they claimed that, during her presidential term, she would focus on expanding Medicare for undocumented immigrants, ensure that schools provide “comprehensive” LGBTQ education and propose the “most progressive” Green New Deal yet.
Such false policy positions are part of a larger narrative Republicans have circulated for years to fearmonger Americans.
These political maneuvers betray the essence of democratic freedom. Musk’s manipulation of social media traces back to Oct. 27, 2022, when he acquired X, which was fundamental to Trump’s reelection.
When we step back and put all these events into perspective, it becomes clear that his role in the election was the culmination of a series of deliberate steps to elect Trump, who lowered the corporate tax rate to 15% during his first presidential term.
Musk’s words also reveal his baseless concern that Harris would have punished him had she been elected president.
In an Oct. 7 interview posted on X, Musk recklessly told political commentator Tucker Carlson, “If [Trump] loses, I’m f—ed… How long do you think my prison sentence is going to be? Will I see my children? I don’t know.”
Musk’s words reveal his stakes in the election. In an Oct. 7 interview with political commentator Tucker Carlson, Musk said, “If [Trump] loses, I’m f—ed. How long do you think my prison sentence is going to be? Will I see my children? I don’t know.”
When billionaires like Elon Musk use their immense financial power to manipulate the political landscape of the most influential country in the world, we can no longer call it a free and fair election. Unfortunately, in this election, democracy was sold to the highest bidder.
