Imagine having so much money that you can promise million-dollar bribes to people who’d sign a petition “supporting” the First and Second Amendments. Well, billionaire Elon Musk actually did, flexing his considerable wealth to influence the election.
Now imagine how strong a movement needs to be to defeat political forces with that level of power and funding.
In March, Musk, who owns Tesla and supported Donald Trump, poured nearly $700,000 into an under-the-radar election in Austin, Texas. The money funded ads targeting the city’s district attorney, José Garza. A former public defender, Garza has implemented a slate of reform-minded policies like investing in gun violence prevention, expunging the records of people arrested for crimes but not convicted of them, and increasing funding for substance abuse programs.
The Musk-funded ads were shameless in their fearmongering.
One featured a bloody teddy bear with the caption: “José Garza is filling Austin’s streets with pedophiles and killers. The next victim could be your loved one.”
Musk alone outspent the incumbent district attorney 3-to-1, but Garza handily won the primary, receiving 66 percent of the vote.
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