Glitching tech and 'erratic' Elon Musk throws wrench in Trump's ground campaign: report

Tech billionaire Elon Musk has committed tens of millions to help build an organization to elect former President Donald Trump, known as America PAC. But things aren't going well behind the scenes, reported The Washington Post on Tuesday.

"America PAC has emerged as a significant player in Trump’s bid for a second term, running perhaps the most ambitious independent get-out-the-vote operation for the Republican candidate in the campaign’s final weeks," the report stated. The group is operating in multiple battleground states, and plans to hire a new army of canvassers in Pennsylvania ahead of Election Day.

However, according to the report, "Musk’s characteristically erratic leadership style, including towering demands and sudden firings, has at times impeded his political project, potentially limiting its effectiveness in the final stretch of the presidential race."

Moreover, the app America PAC is using to direct canvassers has been plagued with problems, constantly crashing and giving incorrect information.

Alysia McMillan, a failed GOP Arizona legislative candidate who turned out for Stop the Steal protests in November 2020, is now working as a paid canvasser for America PAC, but according to the article, when she hit the streets in Wisconsin, "Several times [the app] directed her to knock on the door of a house with blue lawn signs endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris" — which isn't supposed to happen as canvasser lists are pre-filled with known contributors to the canvasser's party.

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"Most of her knocks so far that day had received no response, and the few voters who answered were either undecided, or uninterested in talking."

Musk, whose SpaceX company celebrated the historic success of a new type of superheavy rocket booster landing system, has in recent years became radicalized to the far right as he oversaw his X social media platform, formerly Twitter.

Earlier this year, he denied reports he was going to personally contribute $45 million a month to Trump's re-election efforts. According to the report, however, that number may at least have been somewhat in the ballpark, as America PAC has so far spent $87 million since its founding — although Musk is not the only tech entrepreneur who has contributed to the group.