In recent days, reports of an alleged million-dollar donation from Elon Musk to Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump have caused a stir. Now the Tesla-CEO has vehemently denied these reports.
In a message on the short message service X, Musk stated: "I never said I was donating 45 million dollars to Trump." He did not provide any further details at first, but he directed sharp criticism at the established media. His criticism focused in particular on an article in the "Wall Street Journal" (WSJ), which had spread the news about the regular donation. Musk described the report as "fictitious".
LOL WTF is even going on https://t.co/J2TXbdsaF8
- Noah Smith 🐇🇺🇸🇺🇦 (@Noahpinion) July 23, 2024
The Wall Street Journal article, to which many media outlets had referred, reported insider information that Musk was planning to donate 45 million dollars a month to Trump's election campaign. This information was not confirmed at the time of publication. In a tweet, Musk commented directly on the speculation that the donations could possibly flow via a so-called super PAC. One user asked specifically whether the donations were not going directly to Trump, but to a super PAC, to which Musk clearly replied "No".
Trump himself had spread the news of the regular donation and mentioned at a campaign event in Michigan that Elon Musk was giving him 45 million dollars a month. However, Musk made it clear that he does not support Trump financially to this extent. Instead, he confirmed that he was donating to America PAC, but at a "much lower level". The America PAC was also named as a donation address in the WSJ article. Musk praised the organization for its "key values," particularly its "support of a meritocracy and individual liberty," which Republicans "mostly, but not always" uphold.
