'Deception': Elon Musk reportedly tricking swing-state voters into giving up personal info
Tesla and Space X CEO Elon Musk is tricking voters in swing states into giving him all of their personal information for his political action committee, which could help Donald Trump in November, according to a new report.
CNBC political finance reporter Brian Schwartz explained that the website claims to offer a voter registration option. For someone who doesn't live in a swing state, they can enter their email and zip code and be taken to the website, where they can register in their state.
If the individual lives in a swing state, however, things are very different.
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If a voter is in Michigan, for example, and they search Google, they'll get a "somewhat shocking ad" that pops up. It shows a young man lying in bed when someone texts him, "Hey you need to vote" and sends them a video of the assassination attempt Trump. Gunshots are heard, and people are screaming. The person who gets the video responds, "This is out of control. How do I start?" There comes America PAC, the Musk voter registration site.
"Rather than be directed to their state’s voter registration page," Schwartz wrote that the user in the swing state is "directed to a highly detailed personal information form, prompted to enter their address, cell phone number, and age."
They hit "submit" and they're still not sent to a voter registration page. Instead, they get a "thank you" page. The person might even falsely believe that they're being registered to vote, but they're not.
Musk has already faced criticism for pushing out fake videos of Kamala Harris.
When speaking to author and psychologist Jordan Peterson, Musk revealed that he started the super PAC.
"The America PAC has spent over $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," the report said, citing AdImpact.
Musk is running his ads on Facebook, Instagram, and Google through YouTube, and they're all asking people to register to vote.
Acquiring the data is reportedly a piece of Musk's puzzle.
“America PAC is focusing on door-to-door canvassing in support of Trump,” said Brendan Fischer, who helps lead the 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 also said.
"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.”
It sparked conversations on Musk's social media site X about whether misleading people like that is "legal." One person called it "voter suppression."
Former Republican Party chairman Michael Steele posted the report to X as well, saying it was "billionaire deception."