Last year, senior political advisors to Florida governor Ron DeSantis convened at his campaign headquarters in Tallahassee, which was located across the street from a Red Lobster, to plot the announcement of his presidential candidacy.
As a possible photo op with his young family, some wanted the Republican to hold his rally at a Tampa baseball stadium, close to his childhood home and Little League glory days. A source close to the situation revealed that Generra Peck, the campaign manager, had been secretly collaborating with Elon Musk, the newly-minted owner of the platform formerly known as Twitter, for weeks on an alternative proposal, which Peck had been discreetly advocating. The individuals involved chose to remain anonymous in order to discuss sensitive matters internally.
DeSantis and Musk had an audio-only chat on Twitter Spaces. Attracting attention and intrigue at first, the call ended up being a complete bust. Technical difficulties caused the broadcast to fail, setting a poor tone for DeSantis’ disastrous campaign.
Trump defeated DeSantis to win the Republican primary this year, and Peck, who was demoted three months into DeSantis’ campaign, is now collaborating with Musk once again, but this time on America PAC, a super PAC devoted to electing Trump.
Based on new guidelines from the Federal Election Commission that permit campaigns to collaborate with outside groups in ways that were previously not permitted, the Trump team is shifting paid canvassing and get-out-the-vote activities to outside organizations like America PAC. The problem is that the campaign has now delegated an essential task to a loose confederation of unproven, autonomous organizations. One of the reasons DeSantis’s presidential campaign failed was because he hired a third party to do the canvassing for him.
With Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, attracting more enthusiasm than President Joe Biden did when he was running for reelection, the modest margins that a good turnout campaign may produce could be very critical in a tight presidential contest.
America PAC tries to find those who will probably vote for Trump
Through digital marketing and door-to-door canvassing, America PAC is tasked with identifying probable Trump backers in crucial states. Along with Turning Point Action and the Faith and Freedom Coalition, it is one of the few groups to which Trump’s campaign has handed over the bulk of its organizing efforts.
There has been an unprecedented amount of curiosity about its work and Musk’s involvement in it.
Attorneys representing America PAC issued a letter to an employee of Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson on August 7, stating that the organization is using the information it gathers to enroll voters and urge them to cast ballots. Benson’s office was mentioned in a CNBC report from August 4 that delved into the group’s activities. “It is true that we are keeping some of our plans and strategies under wraps for the moment, but it would be foolish to launch an investigation into our efforts at this early stage.”
In a reaction to concerns that potential Michigan voters were being mislead into believing they were registering to vote when they were, in fact, not, Benson’s office, which had already issued the letter, launched a review two days later.
In an additional statement, Benson’s office expressed gratitude for the confirmation that the website does, in fact, allow voter registration and that the data collected will be utilized for the purpose of registering voters.
According to reports, Musk has rejected plans to donate $45 million per month to pro-Trump campaigns this year. However, since rebranding Twitter as X, he has been outspoken in his backing of Trump and in elevating conservative voices on the network.
Supporting a meritocracy and individual freedom are the primary goals of the PAC, as Musk stated in a post from July. “Most Republicans, though not all, support merit and individual liberty.”
Trump spoke with Musk on the same venue this week, a year after he criticized DeSantis’s disastrous rollout. Unfortunately, Trump’s audio frequently sounded garbled during their lengthy discussion, which was preceded by a 40-minute delay caused by technical difficulties with their call.
If you can land Musk as a customer after that two-hour X disaster, I suppose that’s good. In 2021, Mark Campbell oversaw the successful campaign of Republican Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin. “But if you don’t, you can see how that’s also good,” Campbell added. “Because Elon Musk is currently 0 for 2” in his political ventures.
No reaction was offered by an America PAC official. Messages for comment from Peck were not returned.