Musk pumped nearly half a billion dollars into Republican campaigns: report

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has pumped more than $445 million into Republican campaigns ahead of the midterm elections, according to a report.

​The GOP has been forced to contend with grim polling ahead of the midterms, with Democrats surging in polls across the country amid public anger over the war in Iran and the cost of living.

​Musk, among the richest people in the world, has become increasingly tied to the GOP in recent years - even overseeing the Trump administration’s DOGE scheme before dramatically exiting the White House.

​Now, new filings with the Federal Election Commission obtained by Bloomberg show that he has injected $77 million into his America PAC in the first half of October alone. That brings his total political donations during this election cycle over $445 million.

​Musk has also spent $71 million in supporting Republicans in Senate races in Ohio, Michigan, Texas, Iowa and Maine.

​In the race between Democrat James Talarico and Republican Ken Paxton, Musk’s PAC has spent $33.1 million.

​Teddy Schleifer, a journalist from The New York Times, shared documents on X showing that Musk had donated $158 million to the Senate Leadership Fund in September. The files show that a donation that size was then made from the SLF to the Paxton-associated Texas PAC.

​In total, he has spent around $181 million on the race since September 11, records show.

​Trump has also thrown his weight behind Paxton’s campaign, even appearing on stage beside the Texas attorney general earlier this month. He has also taken swipes at Talarico’s alleged diet, claiming that he is a vegan despite the Democrat stating that he eats meat, and has nicknamed him “James ‘Talafreako.’”

​Despite Musk’s reported huge spending on Republican campaigns ahead of the midterms, the GOP has been forced to face a slew of surveys showing grim polling figures for the party.

​A Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll found that 66 percent of Americans disapprove of how Trump is handling the presidency, with just 33 percent holding the opposite opinion. The survey, which was conducted with 2,545 people between October 9 and October 13, also found that 59 percent of respondents wanted the Democrats to control Congress to act as a check on Trump.

​The Democrats are also more trusted on the cost-of-living, with 38 percent favoring them compared to just 24 percent favoring the Republicans.

​A CNN/SSRS poll carried out in mid-September found that 70 percent of respondents felt that the war with Iran had hurt the U.S., with 76 percent also saying that the war was not worth the toll it has taken on American lives and the strain it has placed upon the government.