Speaker 1: At a Trump rally in Pennsylvania, Elon Musk takes the stage.
Speaker 2: And he announces that he will start giving out one
Speaker 2: million dollars a day to randomly chosen people that sign
Speaker 2: a petition that he has online.
Speaker 3: So I have a surprise for you, which is that
Speaker 3: we are going to be awarding a million dollars to
Speaker 3: randomly to people who have signed signed the petition every
Speaker 3: day from now until the election.
Speaker 1: Joining Musk is a blonde woman in a red Trump
Speaker 1: Ace T shirt. He hugs her and an assistant hands
Speaker 1: her a giant novelty check.
Speaker 3: So, congratulations so much. Is there anything you want to say?
Speaker 4: Oh, well, thank you so much for I mean, I
Speaker 4: truly believe everything you're doing.
Speaker 5: Truly you don't need to be doing.
Speaker 4: And I know a lot of us feel the same way.
Speaker 2: I've never seen anything like this. I'm not a political reporter. Typically,
Speaker 2: I'm a tech reporter. But what he's doing is super unconventional.
Speaker 1: It's not just unconventional. What Elon Musk is doing could
Speaker 1: also be illegal, but for Musk, these million dollar checks
Speaker 1: aren't even the tip of the iceberg. Investigative journalist Dana
Speaker 1: Mattioli has uncovered years of secret donations by Musk that
Speaker 1: upend the idea that he's a recent entrant into Trump's orbit.
Speaker 1: From Schwartz Media, I'm Ribby Jones. This is seven AM
Speaker 1: today on the show. Wall Street Journal reporter Dana Mattioli
Speaker 1: on musk Is billions and how big tech is reshaping
Speaker 1: politics in America. It's Monday, October twenty eight. So, Dana
Speaker 1: elon Musk recently made this big announcement. He'll be giving
Speaker 1: away a million dollars a day until the election. So
Speaker 1: what are his conditions to win?
Speaker 2: Yeah, so the conditions are anyone eligible needs to live
Speaker 2: in a swing state, be registered to vote, and they
Speaker 2: need to pledge to uphold these two amendments, you know,
Speaker 2: freedom of speech and the right to bear arms. The
Speaker 2: right to bear arms in particular is something very much
Speaker 2: that Republicans are catalyzed around, and you know, it's generated
Speaker 2: a ton of media buzz. You know, in addition to
Speaker 2: this being a way to get people to potentially register
Speaker 2: to vote if they haven't registered to vote, and generate
Speaker 2: excitement around the campaign, it's also kind of invaluable free
Speaker 2: press for him that would cost way more than a
Speaker 2: million dollars a day for the Trump campaign. If you
Speaker 2: think about it at a time that's really critical point
Speaker 2: in the election. People are now voting early, voting is open.
Speaker 2: So this generated a lot of press for both Elon
Speaker 2: Musk but Donald Trump as well.
Speaker 1: Absolutely, and that's because it is I mean, this is
Speaker 1: something new. Offering a cash prize in this way. Were
Speaker 1: you surprised when you heard about it?
Speaker 2: Super surprised. So there were a few iterations of this.
Speaker 2: A few weeks ago, he announced this petition and he
Speaker 2: was offering forty seven dollars for anyone who had signed
Speaker 2: it and referred to friend.
Speaker 4: A political petition with financial incentive. Elon Musk is asking
Speaker 4: his followers on x to sign a petition to support
Speaker 4: the Constitution, a petition started by America super Pac, a
Speaker 4: pro Trump group founded by Elon Musk. Musk added earned
Speaker 4: forty seven dollars for every person you refer to sign
Speaker 4: the petition if they're in a swing state.
Speaker 2: And then this is the next iteration, was this million
Speaker 2: dollar drawing every day, random drawing. And it's really unconventional
Speaker 2: to the point where some people think it could be illegal.
Speaker 2: It could get into gray areas as it relates to
Speaker 2: campaign finance laws.
Speaker 1: Okay, well, let's talk about that. How might this breach
Speaker 1: campaign finance laws?
Speaker 2: Well, we were able to report that the Department of
Speaker 2: Justice sent a letter to Musk's super pac saying that
Speaker 2: giving these cash payments to registers voters who signed the
Speaker 2: petition might violate federal law. And the big thing here
Speaker 2: is that there are laws in the US that prevent
Speaker 2: anyone from knowingly paying people to register to vote in
Speaker 2: election or paying people to vote in an election. And
Speaker 2: you know, one of the conditions to possibly winning this
Speaker 2: lottery is registering to vote. So you know, he's been
Speaker 2: put on warning from the Department of Justice. We'll see
Speaker 2: where that goes.
Speaker 1: And so, Jenn, what do you think the likelihood is
Speaker 1: of the Justice Department attempting to take action against Musk here?
Speaker 2: You know, it's really difficult to say where they'll net
Speaker 2: out on this. We had a statement from the Pack
Speaker 2: about this, you know, they said the Pack is confident
Speaker 2: in the legality of this initiative and the predictable media
Speaker 2: meltdown is only helping America Pack's efforts to support Donald Trump.
Speaker 2: So they're obviously pleased with all the media They're asserting
Speaker 2: that this is legal, you know. And then you know,
Speaker 2: even if let's say, you know, the Department of Justice
Speaker 2: is correct and this is illegal, you know, I'm sure
Speaker 2: there'll be allegations that this is what a lot of
Speaker 2: people on the right call law fare. They have a
Speaker 2: theory that the Democrats are using federal agencies to attack
Speaker 2: Republicans that speak out against them or do things that
Speaker 2: they don't like.
Speaker 1: And Daniel, we've spoken before about Musk's support for Trump,
Speaker 1: about his last genations, his super pack. He's been showing
Speaker 1: up at Trump rallies a lot lately. But can we
Speaker 1: talk a bit more about what is motivating Musk at
Speaker 1: this point, what would change for him under a Trump presidency.
Speaker 2: I mean, one thing that he and Donald Trump have
Speaker 2: spoken about is some sort of advisory role.
Speaker 6: I will create a Government Efficiency Commission task with conducting
Speaker 6: a complete financial and performance audit of the entire federal
Speaker 6: government and making recommendations for drastic reform. And Elon, because
Speaker 6: he's not very busy, has agreed to head that task force, and.
Speaker 2: Over the summer, Musk hosted Donald Trump on his media
Speaker 2: platform X for a town hall. And the idea for
Speaker 2: this role in the administration being the head of government
Speaker 2: efficiency came up, and that seems to be something that
Speaker 2: Elon's really grasped onto. He thinks that there's a lot
Speaker 2: of inefficiency in government, that there's too much waste, there's
Speaker 2: too much bloating, it's really slow, there's a lot of
Speaker 2: red tape. So that seems to be an area that
Speaker 2: he's really focused on. But we also know that part
Speaker 2: of this is irrespective of his companies. He's concerned about
Speaker 2: things like illegal immigration. He's concerned about things like crime.
Speaker 5: If Trump blizzes, we're going to see you know, our
Speaker 5: studies are going to get less safe, borders obviously going
Speaker 5: to be wide open. We're going to see governors spending
Speaker 5: go ballistic, it's inflation go nuts. It's going to be
Speaker 5: just bad On.
Speaker 2: He doesn't like what he considers a democratic agenda to
Speaker 2: provide gender affirming care for minors or you know, policies
Speaker 2: around diversity, equity, and inclusion. So it goes beyond his
Speaker 2: business interests as well.
Speaker 1: Coming up after the break, how dark money is shaping
Speaker 1: the Rice Jana. In order to win this cash prize,
Speaker 1: a person would need to live in one of the
Speaker 1: swing states, so we're talking about Pennsylvania, Michigan, Nevada. So
Speaker 1: can you tell me just how close the race is
Speaker 1: in some of these states?
Speaker 2: I mean, some of these states are extremely close, and
Speaker 2: depending on the polls, it's changing by the day. In
Speaker 2: some of those states, that could come down to certain
Speaker 2: districts that decide for the state. Right, So it is
Speaker 2: an all out fight right now between the Republicans and
Speaker 2: Democrats to find these voters and get them to commit
Speaker 2: to either voting now, voting by mail, or figuring out
Speaker 2: a plan to get them to the polls because these
Speaker 2: are really razors and margins.
Speaker 1: With that in mind, then can you tell me a
Speaker 1: bit more about what Trump's campaign has been doing in
Speaker 1: these swing states to try and get people to vote
Speaker 1: for him.
Speaker 2: Well, it's really fascinating. We reported that a while ago
Speaker 2: the head of the Republican National Convention spoke to Donald
Speaker 2: Trump and he told Trump that the RNC could do
Speaker 2: two things for you. We could help you with your
Speaker 2: ground game, and we could help you with election integrity.
Speaker 2: And Trump erected the RNC not to worry about the
Speaker 2: crownd game. He said, you know, my people will show
Speaker 2: up no matter what. Only focus on election integrity. So
Speaker 2: the Trump campaign really did not have much of a
Speaker 2: focus on ground game efforts, and that's partially why Elon
Speaker 2: got involved here. Elon sets up the super Pack with
Speaker 2: the idea of taking a lot of that on he
Speaker 2: wants to you know, he had a stated goal of
Speaker 2: getting eight hundred thousand people in those swing states that
Speaker 2: were low propensity voters to change their minds and go
Speaker 2: place a vote. Part of that is knocking on doors,
Speaker 2: having conversations, getting people registered, and like, now we're two
Speaker 2: weeks out, the proof will being the pudding as to
Speaker 2: whether Trump wins or not. But you know, this is
Speaker 2: all new for Elon. He's not typically a political operative.
Speaker 2: He hasn't run super packs in the past.
Speaker 3: It's not I don't want to be in politics. I
Speaker 3: want to be clear, that is not my preference. I
Speaker 3: like I just like building stuff. I like building products
Speaker 3: that people love, and I you know, I derive joy
Speaker 3: from seeing people enjoy the products that my companies make.
Speaker 2: You know, they've had a lot of stumbles along the way.
Speaker 2: They've fired lots of different vendors that were doing this
Speaker 2: very work for them, you know, and had disruptions in
Speaker 2: their ground game efforts. And what we were able to
Speaker 2: find out is that because of some of these stumbles
Speaker 2: that the pack had and continuity issues, at one point,
Speaker 2: the pack was paying these canvassers thirty dollars per door,
Speaker 2: which is an astronomical fee. Typically for campaign door knocking
Speaker 2: you're paid between like four and five dollars a door.
Speaker 2: So just to give you a sense of the scope here,
Speaker 2: So that was like another one of these weird inconsistencies
Speaker 2: we found with the super Pack.
Speaker 1: Dana, You're a tech reporter, not traditionally a political reporter.
Speaker 1: So what does it tell you about the growing power
Speaker 1: and influence of big tech that you are now really
Speaker 1: reporting on the presidential election.
Speaker 2: It's a really good point. If you would have asked
Speaker 2: me a year ago, if I'd be so steeped in
Speaker 2: this presidential election, I would have left. You know, if
Speaker 2: you think about tech, these are some of the biggest
Speaker 2: market caps of companies in the world. They're some of
Speaker 2: the biggest employers in the US. And these are some
Speaker 2: celebrity CEOs where they're known, people like Mark Zuckerberg and
Speaker 2: Jeff Bezos and Elon Musker household names right, and the
Speaker 2: selection cycle. What we've seen is they've become major mega
Speaker 2: donors we have Elon Musk giving at least seventy five
Speaker 2: million dollars the selection cycle and more coming. We have
Speaker 2: people like Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft, giving fifty
Speaker 2: million dollars to Kamala Harris Reed Hastings, the CEO of Netflix,
Speaker 2: is also a Harris backer. And I mean, these are
Speaker 2: the ones that we know. There's so much money being
Speaker 2: funneled by billionaires through dark money organizations going to help
Speaker 2: the candidates as well that will never be revealed.
Speaker 1: And why is that, Dana, Because in Australia we might
Speaker 1: not know who is donating to politicians in real time,
Speaker 1: but we are able to find out eventually. But it
Speaker 1: seems that what ends up being revealed in the US,
Speaker 1: it really comes down to the work of people like you,
Speaker 1: building sources and relying on links to ultimately expose how
Speaker 1: dark money works.
Speaker 2: So what's fascinating is if you're a billionaire in the
Speaker 2: US and you have, you know, the resources to have
Speaker 2: well paid lawyers and advisors set up, you're able to
Speaker 2: spread your money and influence campaigns behind the scenes without
Speaker 2: anyone knowing. And for years that's exactly what Elon Musk did.
Speaker 2: Everyone thinks that Elon Musk became political this election, and
Speaker 2: what we were able to find at the Wall Street
Speaker 2: Journal through a lot of time spent investigating his dark
Speaker 2: money patterns, is that his GOP and Republican donation started
Speaker 2: much earlier. In twenty twenty two, for instance, we were
Speaker 2: able to find that Elon gave more than fifty million
Speaker 2: dollars to an organization run by Stephen Miller and Steven
Speaker 2: Miller was Donald Trump's anti immigrations are during his first campaign,
Speaker 2: and this money funded a series of really explosive advertisements
Speaker 2: in twenty twenty two, right before the midterm elections, and
Speaker 2: no one really knew who was funding them. It was
Speaker 2: this mystery for a really long time until a few
Speaker 2: weeks ago we reported that it was Elon Musk. We
Speaker 2: were also able to find through our sources that Elon
Speaker 2: Musk's first pick for president was not Donald Trump, who's
Speaker 2: thrown all of his weight behind and all of his
Speaker 2: money behind. He actually secretly gave Governor Ron DeSantis of
Speaker 2: Florida ten million dollars last year for his presidential election efforts.
Speaker 2: So there's tons of dark money pools like that that
Speaker 2: these billionaires rely on to influence things behind the scenes.
Speaker 6: Yeah.
Speaker 1: I mean, when you think about those sums of money,
Speaker 1: it is pretty extraordinary.
Speaker 2: It is.
Speaker 1: But Dana, thank you so much for your time today.
Speaker 2: Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1: Also in the news today, the Liberal National Party has
Speaker 1: won Queensland's state election, Leader David Chrisofullies. Win ends a
Speaker 1: decade of labor rule in the state. The LMP ran
Speaker 1: on a cost of living and tough on crime agenda,
Speaker 1: promising that young people who commit serious crimes would be
Speaker 1: charged as adults. Abortion was a late surprise issue in
Speaker 1: the contest and is thought to have tightened the gap
Speaker 1: between the two major parties. And Israel has struck back
Speaker 1: at Iran, launching attacks on missile manufacturing and launch sites
Speaker 1: across three provinces. The US had counseled Israel not to
Speaker 1: strike oil or nuclear facilities in a bid to prevent
Speaker 1: a retaliatory escalation from Iran. The attacks by Israel were
Speaker 1: in response to Iran's missile attacks on Israel earlier this month. Jones,
Speaker 1: this is seven am. See you tomorrow.