Source: The Washington Post / Getty
Figures close to Donald Trump are bashing Elon Musk and his voter organization as “grifters” in a new report.
According to reports, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s ground game is suffering due to opportunists, naming tech billionaire Elon Musk’s group among them. “I think it’s what happens when you let a bunch of grifters take over,” a Trumpworld source said of Musk’s Save America PAC, speaking frankly anonymously about internal discussions concerning the campaign’s lack of a voter turnout strategy. “S—t is always gonna produce s—t.”
Musk’s Save America PAC has turned up efforts in the last few weeks, offering his door knockers $30 an hour “with bonuses for performance” in addition to creating a hybrid petition and sweepstakes where those participating get the chance to snag $1 million (that effort caught the attention of a court in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where Musk was slated to appear on Thursday (Oct. 31). But Trump insiders, while lauding Musk’s passion, question the effectiveness of such actions. “What happens is, you skim a bunch of money off the top, and then you hire the dumbest people and pay them a little bit of money,” the strategist said. “There’s no way of tracking whether it’s effective or not. It’s hard to track the output, and thus the effectiveness of the output.”
Another issue that’s come to light on social media involving Musk’s PAC is allegations that the SpaceX founder flew Black people hired as door knockers into Michigan, where they were driven around in the back of a U-Haul truck and told that they wouldn’t be receiving hotel rooms unless they were to “maintain a 17-22% engagement rate during the campaign” – higher than the average rates. There’s also the lack of geo-tracking, forcing door knockers to utilize “offline workbooks” that don’t always sync up with staffers’ records at the regional offices.
The campaign team for Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris has poured robust amounts of money into their ground game in Michigan, setting up 52 offices throughout the state and at least 375 staffers. But they have wondered about Trump’s efforts in the last days of the election. “It’s been fascinating. It’s been weird? It’s been weird,” said Michigan state senator and Harris surrogate Mallory McMorrow, who noted that one of Musk’s workers she met confessed he was a Democrat just in it for the money.