Elon Musk’s PAC Is Pumping Millions to Help Republicans in These Races
Last week, The Washington Post reported that Elon Musk’s political action committee is “playing a key role in the effort to win Trump a second term.” But the billionaire’s America PAC is also pouring hefty sums into downballot races.
Business Insider’s Bryan Metzger reports that the super PAC backed by the world’s richest man “has spent more than $5 million across 15 competitive House races.” In each of those contests, America PAC funds are in support of the Republican candidate and against the Democratic candidate.
Here’s where Musk’s PAC is spending most to help out Republican incumbents:
In each of the other 12 House races, spending is also in the six figures.
And there’s likely more on the way for Republican candidates for the House, as the PAC has reportedly “set aside $10 million for ‘voter turnout’ in House races around the country.”
That this money is going only to Republican candidates is unsurprising—given Musk’s now full-fledged embrace of the right—but it’s perhaps worth noting. When Musk announced America PAC in July, he said, “It’s not meant to be sort of a hyperpartisan PAC.” Setting aside America PAC’s support of the Trump campaign, what other word but “hyperpartisan” is there for its spending on these House races?
As Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy stood together to address members of the press, the former president couldn’t help but brag about his cozy relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is currently leading a deadly war in Zelenskiy’s home country of Ukraine.
“We have a very good relationship … and I also have a very good relationship, as you know, with President Putin,” Trump boasted. “And I think, uh, if we win, I think we’re going to get it resolved very quickly.”
“I hope we have more good relations with us,” Zelenskiy interrupted, gesturing between himself and Trump.
“We’re gonna have—oh, ha ha, I see,” Trump said. “But you know, it takes two to tango.”
Trump has previously touted his skills as a dealmaker when promising to bring an end to the war in Ukraine, which has killed more than 11,000 people. When asked more specifically during the presidential debate just how he would end the conflict, Trump said, “I’ll speak to one, I’ll speak to the other, I’ll get ’em together.”
In reality, Trump’s plan would involve Ukraine ceding part of its territory to Russia, a deal that is more or less what the Kremlin is looking for. And Trump is far from a neutral arbiter. The former president has gone from publicly gushing about Putin to flat-out saying that Zelenskiy should just give in to Russia’s violent invasion. When asked during the debate who exactly he wanted to prevail in the conflict, he wouldn’t deign to say.
Ahead of the meeting Friday, Trump had begun regularly criticizing Zelenskiy during campaign rallies, calling him the “greatest salesman in history” for his ability to acquire defense funding from the U.S.
While speaking about the war in Ukraine on Tuesday, the former president said he doubted anyone could beat Russia. “That’s what they do is they fight wars. As somebody told me the other day, they beat Hitler, they beat Napoleon. That’s what they do, they fight,” Trump said. Hitler and Napoleon, of course, both invaded Russia—Russia, in this instance, is the aggressor.
Trump also claimed that Zelenskiy had supported the former president during his “impeachment hoax” by calling him to say that “President Trump did nothing wrong.” Trump also inexplicably claimed that the Ukrainian president had called Trump to “congratulate me on his victory.”
In a separate interview, Trump said that Zelenskiy was seeking a “fair transaction” to end the war in Ukraine. “The president wants it to stop. And I’m sure President Putin wants it to stop. And that’s a good combination.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attacked “self-described progressives” during his speech at the United Nations Friday—barely an hour before Israel began bombing civilian areas in Beirut.
Netanyahu attacked progressives for deciding to “march against the democracy of Israel,” while supporting the “Iranian-backed goons in Tehran who gunned down protesters, murdered women for not covering their hair, and hang gays in public squares.”
The claim that pro-Palestinian protesters are backed by Iran, or support the Islamic Republic, is far-fetched. But it’s a common smear, associating all pro-Palestine activism with Hamas, which has Iranian support. Netanyahu’s speech of course ignored all the Jewish organizations protesting for Palestinian rights and demanding an end to Israel’s brutal year-long assault on Gaza, such as Jewish Voice for Peace and IfNotNow.
Netanyahu also accused Iran of directly funding pro-Palestine protests.
“According to the U.S. director of national intelligence, Iran funds and fuels many of the protesters against Israel. Who knows, maybe, maybe some of the protesters or even many of the protesters outside this building now,” said the Israeli prime minister. In reality, the evidence provided for such claims is thin at best, made in passing by U.S. officials and right-wing media.
Shortly after Netanyahu used his U.N. speech to share elementary school graphics calling Israel’s enemies “a curse” and its allies “a blessing,” Israel began bombing civilian areas in Beirut and its suburbs, claiming to be targeting Hezbollah’s central headquarters and leaving smoldering craters in the densely populated city.
Beirut now; they are carpet bombing the city.
100,000 people fled to Beirut from the South in search of safety pic.twitter.com/mmFxRUwHfS
None of this bombastic rhetoric is out of character for Netanyahu, who has complained that the Biden administration hasn’t sent Israel enough weapons despite Israel’s bombing of Gaza and Lebanon continuing unabated. He has humiliated President Biden and cozied up to Donald Trump. And of course, he faces a possible........
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