Musk, who’s presently the second-richest man on the earth with an estimated web value of practically $200 billion, didn’t explicitly rule out donating to a political motion committee or fund benefiting one of many candidates – which, not like direct donations, should not essentially topic to contribution limits.
Maggie Haberman, one of many New York Occasions correspondents who first reported the key summit between the Tesla CEO and backers of Trump’s cash-strapped marketing campaign, addressed the uncertainty surrounding Musk’s claims throughout an look on CNN‘s The Supply With Kaitlan Collins on Wednesday night time.
“Maggie, if you noticed that tweet immediately from Elon Musk — I nonetheless name them tweets — how rigorously worded do you assume that that message was?” Collins requested. “As a result of I imply, he may theoretically give to a brilliant PAC supporting a candidate with out particularly giving to that candidate.”
“Yeah, I believe you are hitting on the difficulty right here,” Haberman replied. “He says ‘to be clear.’ Nicely, he is clear that he isn’t giving laborious {dollars} to candidates. And I do not assume anyone anticipated Elon Musk’s useful $3,300 checks to be at problem right here. I believe the larger problem is whether or not he would give cash to a brilliant PAC — or a darkish cash group, the place they don’t must disclose who their donors are. And he didn’t tackle both a kind of. I believe the assertion left him some wiggle room.”
“Now, that doesn’t imply that he’ll donate, Kaitlan,” she added. “I may see a world the place he would not write a giant examine, or any examine. However that’s the hope of individuals round Trump, is that he does in the end give cash.”