States Investigating Pro-Trump PAC Supported by Musk
North Carolina's Attorney General and Michigan's Secretary of State have said they're investigating a political action committee created by Elon Musk to support 2024 Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump....
Facts
- North Carolina's Attorney General and Michigan's Secretary of State have said they're investigating a political action committee created by Elon Musk to support 2024 Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.[1]
- Michigan Sec. of State Jocelyn Benson's office said they're probing America PAC, which is registered in several swing states, 'to determine if there have been any violations of state law,' particularly related to the collection of personal data.[2][3]
- At issue is a tab on the PAC's website that prompts visitors to click to register to vote. Government officials claim that, while the link redirects users from non-competitive states to official government registration websites, those from swing states are never redirected after providing their personal information.[1]
- The data requested of people from Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Georgia, among others, include their name, age, address, date of birth, and cellphone number. On providing the information, they allegedly only received a 'thank you' message.[4]
- Benson's office said it will 'refer potential violations to the Michigan Attorney General's office as appropriate,' with a North Carolina Attorney General spokeswoman saying their office is 'looking into it' but has not yet 'opened a formal investigation.'[2][1]
Sources: [1]CNBC, [2]Reuters, [3]Washington Examiner and [4]Alabama Reflector.
Narratives
- Democratic narrative, as provided by The New Republic. Nothing should frighten Americans more than a group of billionaire tech executives using people's private data to help another billionaire run for president. This case is clear-cut, as website visitors from non-swing states were directed to official registration websites, but those in swing states were only asked to provide their name, address, and age.
- Republican narrative, as provided by PJ Media. Left-wing politicians and media outlets are hell-bent on smearing Musk because he's virtually the only tech mogul to publicly support Trump. While Musk faces newspaper hit pieces and literal government investigations, his left-wing counterparts in Silicon Valley are free to ban images of Trump from Facebook and censor the Trump assassination attempt from Google searches.
