Elon Musk has been funding Republican causes for years, starting much earlier than previously known, according to a new report.
Tesla’s X owner and CEO gave $10 million to support Ron DeSantis as he ran for president in 2023, sources familiar with his donation told the Wall Street Journal.
Before DeSantis dropped out of the race in January, the money was reportedly routed through a group called Faithful & Strong Policies — a group that claims to be “committed to promoting and supporting conservatives and ideas.”
Financial contributions to groups linked to Stephen Miller, a Trump aide, and DeSantis reportedly date back to at least the fall of 2022, when Musk backed Citizens for Sanity’s advertising campaigns with about $50 million, sources said to the WSJ.
The group is accused this year of spending $90 million on ‘racist and transphobic advertisements‘ in 2022 reportedly has board members of the America First Legal Foundation, founded by Miller.
Elon Musk meets Donald Trump at the White House in February 2017
Donald Trump speaks at a press conference at the Discovery Center, Milwaukee, on October 1
Governor Ron DeSantis during a news conference near John’s Pass Village Wednesday
Citizens for Sanity was founded in 2022, with Foundation salaried employees listed among its directors and officers, according to the WSJ.
As a Senior Advisor, Stephen Miller guided Trump on policy and speechwriting.
He is described as a ‘extremist‘and’white nationalistplans to “dramatically change the administration’s interpretation of civil rights-era laws to focus on ‘anti-white racism’ rather than discrimination against people of color” if Trump is re-elected.
Miller founded America First Legal in 2021 to challenge Biden’s policies and complain about diversity initiatives and transgender policies in schools.
“Citizens for Sanity, where Musk’s money ended up, was made up of employees of America First Legal,” the WSJ reports.
Elon Musk is said to have given more than $50 million to fund the group’s ads in late 2022, most of which ran in battleground states and focused on illegal immigration and medical care for transgender children.
Much also went to Never Back Down, a pro-DeSantis political action committee.
The committee was founded by Ken Cuccinelli, a former Trump administration official, to encourage DeSantis to run for president.
The group increased more than $145 million between January 1, 2023 and July 30, 2024.
Musk’s contributions were previously unreported. Other major donors include Robert Bigelow and the Faithful & Strong Policies Inc.
Bigelow later criticized DeSantis and defected to support the Trump campaign.
Faithful & Strong Policies was described by factcheck.org as a “conservative nonprofit that has contributed $5.5 million and is associated with Scott Wagner.”
Wagner, an entrepreneur, previously represented the 28th District in the Pennsylvania Senate.
In 2017 he was confronted criticism about his comments calling George Soros a “Hungarian Jew” with a “hatred of America.”
The WSJ alleges that Republican advisors and lawyers helped Musk carry out trades that secretly supported Republican causes.
“He used a limited liability company to send money to groups known for the part of the Internal Revenue Service code they fall under: 501(c)(4).
“Also called ‘social welfare organizations’ or ‘dark money’ groups, they are exempt from disclosing donors and can raise unlimited amounts of money from people and companies,” the report states.
Elon Musk with far-right Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in New York, September 23
Stephen Miller, former senior adviser to former US President Donald Trump, steps off a plane in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on September 10
Elon Musk attends the men’s final on day fourteen of the 2024 US Open Tennis Championships at the USTA Billie Jean King Tennis Center on September 8
Amid news that Alex Jones’ InfoWars will be sold to help pay the more than $1 billion owed to the relatives of Sandy Hook victims, Jones appeared to appeal to Elon Musk to prevent it would fall into the hands of liberal buyers.
Jones asked Elon Musk to buy Infowars in recent days, writing, “This is a great idea! The ultimate middle finger to the rotting globalist establishment.’
One person who won’t bid is George Soros, a longtime enemy of Jones and the focus of his many rants, who said he wasn’t interested.
It is unclear how much money would be raised by selling the Infowars and Jones assets, and how much money the Sandy Hook families would get.
Jones has approximately $9 million in personal assets, according to court records. According to previous court testimony, Free Speech Systems has approximately $6 million in cash and approximately $1.2 million in inventory on hand.