If a voter in Michigan conducts research in Googlea somewhat shocking advertisement may appear.
The ad shows a young man lying in bed late at night when someone else texts him, “Hey, you need to vote,” and then sends the man a text message. video of the assassination attempt on the former president donald trump. The man can hear gunshots and people screaming in the background.
As Trump is carried off the stage with blood running down his face, the man watching the video types in response: “This is out of control. How can I start?”
The ad then displays a website from a group called America PAC.
The website says it will help viewers register to vote. But when a user clicks “Register to vote,” the experience they have can be very different depending on where they live.
If a user lives in a state that is not considered competitive in presidential elections, like California or Wyoming, for example, they will be prompted to enter their email address and zip code and then quickly directed to a voter registration page of your state, or return to the original registration section.
But for users who enter a zip code that indicates they live in a battleground state like Pennsylvania or Georgia, the process is very different.
Instead of being directed to their state’s voter registration page, they are directed to a highly detailed personal information form where they are asked to enter their address, cell phone number and age.
If they agree to submit all of this, the system still won’t direct them to a voter registration page. Instead, it shows them a “thank you” page.
So that person who wanted help registering to vote? In the end, they had no help registering. But they handed over invaluable personal data to a political operation.
Specifically, a political action committee created by Tesla CEO Elon Muskwhich aims to give Republican presidential nominee Trump an edge in his campaign against the vice president Kamala Harristhe de facto Democratic candidate.
“I created a PAC, or a super PAC… America’s PAC,” Musk said in a recent interview.
Musk also owns the social media platform X and has a net worth of more than $235 billion, according to Forbes.
The combination of owning a social media company that gives him a huge platform to promote his political views, and creating a PAC with effectively unlimited resources, made Musk, for the first time, a major force in an American presidential election.
Musk PAC uses ‘registration to vote’ data
America PAC has spent more than $800,000 since the beginning of July on digital ads targeting voters in the key battleground states of Arizona, Michigan, Georgia, North Carolina, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, according to AdImpact.
The ads appeared on Facebook, Instagram and Google through YouTube, and all encouraged people to register to vote on the America PAC website.
The PAC’s effort to collect information from people using the idea of “voter registration” is a critical piece in its plan to establish personal contact with these voters.
“America PAC is focusing on door-to-door campaigning in support of Trump,” said Brendan Fischer, deputy executive director of campaign finance watchdog Documented.
“I think it is safe to assume that the electoral data collected through these digital appeals will inform the electoral campaign and other political activities of América PAC,” he added.
Fischer pointed to the group’s privacy policy, which says they may use data collected in “other fundraising activities and/or campaigns.”
Since June, America PAC has spent more than $21 million on canvassing, digital media, text messaging services and phone calls, according to Federal Election Commission documents.
The PAC’s website offers no indication of the group’s political orientation. But in its federal documents, the group reveals that all of its work is intended to help Trump or harm his opponent.
Fischer said he has seen some other PACs try to use a “register to vote” message to collect data from people.
But what is unique about the America PAC project is who supports it and the timing of its creation.
In most cases, super PACs are not allowed to directly coordinate the ads they pay for with the campaign. But this spring, regulators ruled that door-to-door campaigning is outside the scope of the ban because, unlike an advertisement, it is a person-to-person exchange.
“What makes America PAC more unique: It’s a billionaire-backed super PAC focused on door-to-door campaigning that it can run in coordination with a presidential campaign,” Fischer said. “Thanks to a recent FEC advisory opinionAmerica PAC can legally coordinate its fundraising activities with the Trump campaign – which means, among other things, that the Trump campaign can provide America PAC with the literature and scripts to ensure its efforts are consistent .”
“Coordination is extremely important: it ensures that the PAC’s activities are maximally beneficial to the campaign and frees up the campaign’s own funds for other uses,” he said. “I suspect the PAC’s ability to coordinate its fundraising activities with the Trump campaign made it very attractive to donors.”
Longtime Republican strategists Phil Cox, Generra Peck and Dave Rexrode are among those now running the PAC following a mid-July shakeup, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter. This person was granted anonymity to speak freely about a private matter.
The change suggests that there may be a change of tactics by the PAC in November. The New York Times first reported on the moves.
Musk is not the only technology executive supporting this effort.
America PAC raised more than $8 million between April 1 and June 30, according to FEC records. It received donations from veteran investor Doug Leone, cryptocurrency investors Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss and a company run by longtime venture capitalist Joe Lonsdale, according to FEC filings.
Lonsdale, co-founder of software company Palantir, is also a PAC leader and “serves as a political confidant” to Musk, according to The New York Times.
Records do not yet list Musk as a donor. He recently said on X that he is “making some donations to America PAC,” but didn’t say how much. The PAC is not required to file a third-quarter report until Oct. 15, the first time Musk’s name could be listed as a donor.
A spokesperson for America PAC declined to comment. Musk did not return emails seeking comment.
Musk on X mirrors Musk PAC
The PAC’s ads that aired on social media platforms also reflect a broader message that Musk delivers to his 191 million followers on X several times a day: the notion that America is in chaos and that voting for Trump in Harris’ turn is the only way out.
″These PACs have often functioned as the alter ego of whatever billionaire is behind them,” said Daniel Weiner, director of the Brennan Center’s elections and government program.
Experts say Musk’s ownership of 100 days to go. Election day.
“I would say it is somewhat concerning that the owner of one of the most prominent social media platforms is openly partisan (rooting for one of the candidates) and is using his platform…as a vehicle to pursue his openly partisan ends. ,” said Matthew Baum, a professor at the Harvard Kennedy School whose research includes studying disinformation.
Baum said that ownership of a social media company like . consequences.”
“There is concern that Musk is weaponizing this platform to help his preferred candidate” in Trump, Weiner said.
This story originally appeared on NBCNews.com read the full story
