Elon Musk Makes His First Political Hire—in Promise of Chaos to Come
Elon Musk is making a serious dive into politics, hiring a longtime Republican political adviser.
Chris Young, who has worked as a field organizer for former Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, the field director for the Republican National Committee, and most recently, a political official at a pharmaceutical trade association, will be helping with Musk’s political initiatives, The New York Times reported Wednesday, citing three anonymous sources.
Part of Young’s job will be to help Musk with the pro-Trump America super PAC he founded. Young, who has experience leading Republicans’ voter registration efforts, is also expected to help with field organizing.
The hire is a big step for the billionaire and world’s richest person, whose political involvement has been limited and flaky in the past. Republicans have lamented Musk backing out of grand promises and spending pledges, seeing him as a potential meal ticket and inspiration that doesn’t follow through.
For example, The Wall Street Journal reported last month that Musk planned to donate $45 million per month to the America PAC in support of Donald Trump, raising the hopes of many in the GOP. But the tech mogul later denied that report, saying he’d actually be giving at “at a much lower level.” Musk has engaged in different ways, though, secretly lobbying Trump along with Tucker Carlson to choose J.D. Vance as his running mate, and allowing misinformation to run rife on his social media platform, X (formerly Twitter), that benefits Trump.
Musk’s super PAC has also been collecting voters’ personal information under the guise of inviting them to register to vote, drawing the ire of state governments and putting the PAC under investigation. And although it’s not $45 million, the PAC has begun spending money, $5.8 million as of two weeks ago, to help Trump’s election efforts. X has been pushing Trump’s advertisements on the social media platform, coinciding with Trump’s buggy interview with Musk on the website.
The new hire suggests that Musk will be making more moves in politics, possibly getting his super PAC involved in political contests besides the presidency, and maybe taking advantage of Young’s field experience and trying to push Trump on a more local level. Either way, a billionaire engaging more in politics and spending a lot of money does not bode well for our democracy, particularly when it’s on behalf of a convicted felon who repeatedly attacks the electoral process.
