Are immigrants trying to influence the upcoming election, as Elon Musk claims? One of them certainly is... the tech billionaire himself.
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Without citing evidence (because he has none), Elon Musk likes to complain about Democrats “importing” voters, i.e., giving citizenship to undocumented immigrants. Again, there is no indication that this is happening, but that has never stopped the owner of the X social media platform from spreading misinformation.
There is, however, evidence that one specific immigrant is trying to massively influence the upcoming election: Musk himself.
New Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings show that the South African-born entrepreneur funded his America PAC, which supports Donald Trump, to the tune of $75 million over the past three months.
So, if you are truly worried about immigrants influencing the upcoming election, Musk is one of the best examples… second perhaps only to Rupert Murdoch, the Australian-born immigrant who owns the GOP propaganda outlet commonly known as Fox News and has been influencing elections for more than two decades by providing (mainly) conservatives with a warped alternative reality.
Mind you, this isn’t illegal.
Both of these right-wing moguls came to the US legally and “earned” their citizenship. Therefore, they can vote and support whichever candidate they like (the fact that billionaires have such a major influence on politics is a separate issue).
So, while Musk wants Trump supporters to believe the baseless claim that “illegal” brown people voting is a major problem (which is really just another iteration of the nationalist “great replacement theory” that people like him are pushing), it stands to reason that, by himself, he will have a much greater impact on the election than all undocumented immigrants combined (perhaps apart from their role as bogeyman to get GOP voters to the polls).
For them, or any other noncitizen trying to vote, it is a felony to attempt to cast a ballot.
Of course, documented immigrants, like Musk or Murdoch, can one day become US citizens and vote then. However, this is an arduous path not available to most undocumented immigrants.
Even if a future immigration reform bill were to offer them amnesty, like the law Ronald Reagan signed in 1986, they would then still only be authorized to work but not vote.
Musk’s political involvement (or that of Murdoch) also hilariously discredits one of the right’s main talking points: that immigrants always end up supporting Democrats.
It stands to reason that Republicans would have fared much worse in recent elections (in the case of Murdoch since at least 2000) without the money of conservative immigrant billionaires and their ability to influence public opinion.
Indeed, it is quite possible that no Republican would have won a presidential election in the past quarter century without Fox News pushing GOP talking points.
It is also reasonable to argue that Musk purchasing Twitter two years ago and turning it into a haven for right-wing misinformation (much of it spread by himself) could help Trump enough to prevail in one of the close swing states.
Of course, as his $75 million commitment to the MAGA cause shows, the native South African is not simply relying on his impact as the ultimate social media influencers, but is actually putting his money where his mouth is.
In his Navigating the Insanity columns, Klaus Marre provides the kind of hard-hitting, thought-provoking, and often funny analysis you won’t find anywhere else.
