Elon Musk has poured hundreds of millions of dollars into Republican election campaigns
According to a report by Germany’s Bild, tech billionaire Elon Musk is spending heavily in an effort to influence the trajectory of American politics. His central objective is to preserve Republican control of the Senate. To that end, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX has provided financial backing to several Republican candidates.
Musk’s contributions in Texas have been particularly substantial. Ken Paxton, the incumbent Republican attorney general of the state, is running for a U.S. Senate seat. In just a few weeks, Paxton’s campaign received approximately $158 million in funding—largely attributed to Musk. The Republican candidate now stands nearly even with his Democratic opponent, James Talarico, in polling data. Brendan Green, a researcher at the nonprofit OpenSecrets, told CNN that Musk’s individual financial intervention could be decisive in determining the outcome of the race.
Musk has also leveraged his X platform to campaign actively against Democratic candidates, accusing Talarico of harboring animosity toward Texas and the United States, and of advancing legislation related to transgender youth. Talarico has sharply criticized this dynamic, describing it as enabling ultra-wealthy individuals to “buy themselves a U.S. senator.”
Initial estimates indicate that the tech magnate has already contributed more than $440 million to U.S. congressional elections—a record amount. The final figure will likely not be confirmed until after the November 3 voting concludes.
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1880661542063306/
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