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Elon Musk Election News - Big Spends on Meta Ads · Elon Musk Podcast

• 0:01
  Hey everybody. Welcome back to the Elon Musk
• 0:04
  Podcast. This is a show where we discuss
• 0:07
  the critical crossroads that shape SpaceX, Tesla X, The
• 0:11
  Boring Company, and Neurolink. I'm your host, Will Walden.
• 0:16
  So why is America PAC, this is Elon Musk's PAC spending so much
• 0:21
  more on Facebook and YouTube ads than on X, his own platform.
• 0:26
  And what swing states are they focusing on the most?
• 0:29
  And also, why is Elon giving away $1,000,000 per day until
• 0:32
  the election? Today, we're going to break down
• 0:34
  these details, including how Musk's PAC is targeting specific
• 0:38
  interests like Joe Rogan and also the Boy Scouts.
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  Now, America PAC, founded by Elon Musk in July of 2023, has
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  emerged as a significant player in the pro Trump fundraising and
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  advertising scene. Musk has personally injected $75
• 0:53
  million into the political action committee, or the PAC,
• 0:56
  which he focused on advertising efforts on various platforms,
• 1:01
  but curiously not heavily on his own social media platform X.
• 1:07
  You know, in the past three months, America PAC spent 200
• 1:10
  and $1000 on X ads, while it's advertising on other platforms,
• 1:14
  particularly Facebook and YouTube, has been substantially
• 1:17
  higher. The pack spending on Facebook
• 1:20
  and Instagram is over $3,000,000 during the same period, while an
• 1:24
  additional 1.5 million went to ads on Google, most of which
• 1:28
  appeared on YouTube, Now X and Facebook.
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  The comparison for America pack is striking.
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  From July to October, they spent $201,000 on X ads across 59 ads,
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  while more than 3 million was allocated to over 1900 ads on
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  Facebook and Instagram. The heavy investment in Meta's
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  platforms, particularly when Musk owns X, is kind of
• 1:55
  unexpected. This heavy investment in Metis
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  platforms, particularly when Musk owns X, is a big deal.
• 2:03
  Metis ad transparency reports indicate that America PAC is
• 2:07
  focused heavily on swing states, with North Carolina and
• 2:11
  Pennsylvania being their top targets.
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  Now. For Musk, who has emphasized X
• 2:16
  potential for advertising, this relatively low spending on its
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  own platform raises questions about the effectiveness of X
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  compared to its competitors. Now, despite X being the social
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  media platform Musk directly controls, America PAC's efforts
• 2:30
  on Facebook have generated far more ads, and likely more
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  impressions, too. While fewer than 7000 people
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  follow the PAC's X account, the advertising campaign on Facebook
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  targets a much broader audience. Mena's Ad Library reveals that
• 2:46
  America PAC has run ads targeted interests as varied as Kelsey
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  Grammar, Trophy Hunting, Kid Rock, the Boy Scouts of America,
• 2:56
  and also Joe Rogan. This audience tailoring allows
• 3:00
  the pack to reach specific voter segments across key battleground
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  states. Now, America Pack has targeted
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  North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Nevada, Wisconsin,
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  Georgia, and Arizona with ads for recent data shows a
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  significant shift towards Pennsylvania.
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  In the past seven days, over 25% of its ads have been directed at
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  Pennsylvania voters, reflecting Musk's increasing focus on the
• 3:24
  state. Now, Interestingly, Musk has
• 3:26
  been physically present at several rallies in Pennsylvania,
• 3:30
  signaling his direct involvement in campaigning efforts there.
• 3:35
  Now, the Pack's spending strategy on platforms like
• 3:37
  Facebook and YouTube also includes a large number of video
• 3:40
  ads, which have proven to be more engaging for users.
• 3:43
  And since July, 80% of America Pack's ad spend on Google has
• 3:48
  gone to video content. Video ads tend to perform well,
• 3:51
  particularly on platforms like YouTube, which America Pack is
• 3:54
  heavily invested in now. This focus on video ad suggests
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  that Musk's team is banking on more dynamic visual content to
• 4:02
  attract voters in these battleground states.
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  Now on X America, PAC's ads have mainly targeted 5 key swing
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  states, Georgia, Nevada, Michigan, Arizona, and
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  Wisconsin. Pennsylvania, however, has
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  become the Pack's most important target.
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  The 59 ads run on X from July 8th to October 1st generated
• 4:22
  roughly 32,000,000 impressions. Despite these numbers, the
• 4:25
  overall spend on X pales in comparison to what the Pack is
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  investing in Facebook and YouTube, raising questions about
• 4:32
  Musk's strategy for his own platform and whether X is truly
• 4:36
  as viable in AD Tool as he claims.
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  No, America Pack's advertising push on Facebook has been
• 4:42
  extensive, with thousands of ads running over the 90 day stretch
• 4:46
  between July and October. Several of these ads received
• 4:50
  over one million impressions, although Meta's ad library does
• 4:53
  not provide an overall aggregate of impressions for individual
• 4:56
  advertisers. This makes it harder to directly
• 4:59
  compare Facebook's reach with XS, though it's evident that the
• 5:02
  scale of advertising on Facebook is significantly larger now.
• 5:07
  In addition to online ads, Musk has thrown money at in person
• 5:10
  voter mobilization efforts over the past week.
• 5:13
  He announced the plan to give away about $1,000,000 per day
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  until the 2024 election, awarding the money to randomly
• 5:20
  selected registered voters who Sign America PAC's petition.
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  This part of a broader campaign to energize pro Trump voters,
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  especially in Pennsylvania. Now, At recent town hall events
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  in the state, Musk presented giant novelty checks to winners,
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  amplifying his grassroots strategy.
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  On October 7th in Harrisburg, PA, Musk held one of these town
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  halls where he announced the $1,000,000 sweepstakes he
• 5:47
  promised every day between now and the election.
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  We'll be awarding $1,000,000 starting tonight.
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  The first winner, John Draher, won the prize, is brought on a
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  stage to collect his $1,000,000 check, which came with a
• 6:01
  condition. They must serve as a
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  spokesperson for America PAC's petition after they win the
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  money. Now, Dreher is a longtime Musk
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  fan who sported a Make America Great Again hat during the
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  event, and he was greeted with roaring applause as he received
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  his check. He expressed admiration from us,
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  telling him I've been following you for 10 years, got your
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  biography 10 years ago, and I've been watching ever since.
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  Dreyer's enthusiastic support highlights Musk's ability to
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  energize a portion of the Republican base in Pennsylvania.
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  This is a state critical to Trump's electoral prospects.
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  And on the following two days, two more Pennsylvanians were
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  awarded $1,000,000 checks at similar town hall events.
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  Christine Fishel and Shannon Tomei were selected as the other
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  winners of Musk's daily giveaway.
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  And despite these high profile awards, official Andre Hur did
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  not respond to requests for comment till May declined an
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  interview, indicating that some winners may prefer to keep a low
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  profile despite their newfound windfall and glory.
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  Now, while the sweepstakes has generated excitement among Trump
• 7:03
  supporters, is also attracted legal scrutiny.
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  Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro suggested that
• 7:09
  authorities should investigate whether the contest violates
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  state election laws. Some legal experts have labeled
• 7:15
  the lottery as clearly illegal, raising potential legal
• 7:18
  challenges for Musk and his pack.
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  The legality of the sweepstakes hinges on whether it constitutes
• 7:23
  an illegal inducement for voting question that could spark
• 7:27
  further investigation. The Musk's financial investment
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  in Pennsylvania is part of a larger effort to deliver a
• 7:33
  Republican victory in November. The Pack has set up a war room
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  in Pittsburgh to coordinate its voter outreach strategy.
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  Musk has committed substantial resources, including millions of
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  dollars for mail ballot robot texts and door knocking efforts.
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  His focus on mail ballots is particularly notable given
• 7:51
  Trump's past criticism of mail in voting.
• 7:54
  However, Musk appears to be trying to turn this strategy
• 7:57
  into a pro Republican tool now. America Pack's efforts to boost
• 8:01
  Republican turn out also include targeting users who've expressed
• 8:05
  interest in certain high profile figures and activities.
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  The targeting of users interested in figures like Kid
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  Rock and Joe Rogan, both of whom have large conservative
• 8:13
  followings, shows a calculated approach to reaching voters
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  likely to support Trump. And by tailoring as to those
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  interests, America Pack can focus on engaging a receptive
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  audience. Now, Musk control of X has
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  raised eyebrows due to the pack's relatively small ad
• 8:30
  budget on the platform. And it remains a key part of
• 8:34
  Musk's public outreach strategy, though, as he frequently
• 8:36
  retweets posts from America Pack and uses his personal account,
• 8:39
  which has over 200 million followers, to promote the pack's
• 8:43
  messaging over the small scale of paid advertising.
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  NX suggests that Musk is relying on his personal influence on the
• 8:49
  platform rather than using it as a primary ad tool.
• 8:53
  And X advertising revenue has also struggled since Musk's
• 8:57
  acquisition of the platform in 2023, they generated just $2.5
• 9:02
  billion in revenue, which is a sharp decline from the year
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  prior when it earned nearly twice that amount.
• 9:07
  Advertising continues to make up 70 to 75% of X's revenue, but
• 9:12
  many advertisers have pulled back.
• 9:14
  Sending concerns over the platform's moderation policy is
• 9:17
  in the introduction of a subscription service, Twitter
• 9:19
  Blue. Now, Musk's decision to pour
• 9:22
  more money into Facebook and YouTube advertising could be a
• 9:25
  reflection of X's winning appeal to political advertisers.
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  Or it could just mean that Elon Musk has so much influence on
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  the platform that they don't really need to advertise more
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  than just him posting some things.
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  So the America Pass Pack is strategically investing millions
• 9:45
  of dollars in platforms of the next.
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  Facebook and YouTube are both heavy in this.
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  And the pack is targeting specific voter interests in
• 9:54
  Pennsylvania battleground state where Musk has focused the
• 9:58
  campaigning. And the $1,000,000 giveaway has
• 10:00
  added a new dimension to voter outreach.
• 10:02
  Now, as the 2024 election approaches, America PAC spending
• 10:06
  and tactics will remain a crucial part of the campaign to
• 10:10
  secure a Trump victory. And also it's kind of
• 10:13
  controversial too in some places.
• 10:15
  So let me know what you think in the comments, whether you're on
• 10:19
  Spotify or whatever platform you're on.
• 10:21
  If ask comments, let me know what you think.
• 10:23
  Do you think Elon Musk is doing something illegal here?
• 10:26
  I don't know. We're going to find out later.
• 10:34
  Hey, thank you so much for listening today.
• 10:35
  I really do appreciate your support.
• 10:37
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• 10:40
  button on whatever podcast platform that you're listening
• 10:42
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• 10:45
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  miss an episode. And each episode is about 10
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• 10:54
  And please, if you want to support the show even more, go
• 10:57
  to patreon.com/stagezero and please take care of yourselves
• 11:02
  and each other and I'll see you tomorrow.