A Reuters investigation revealed that Elon Musk began contributing to far-right causes earlier than previously believed.
In 2022, Reuters uncovered $50 million in donations to a far-right PAC called Citizens for Sanity, which has ties to former Trump aide Stephen Miller. These donations make Musk “one of the biggest donors to conservative causes,” according to Reuters. A review of ads released by this group shows that many focused on anti-trans topics in races that ultimately proved successful for Republican candidates. Shortly after the Reuters investigation was published, Musk’s own PAC announced a partnership with anti-trans campaigner Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point Action, a 501(c)(4) offshoot of Turning Point USA.
Citizens for Sanity’s heavy focus on anti-trans advertising is evident on its Rumble and YouTube pages, where it posted several ads that ran in 2022 and 2023. These include one titled "Game Over," which targets transgender women in sports by depicting a hypothetical race between a transgender athlete and cisgender girls. Another ad targets Raphael Warnock, accusing him of believing that “girls can become boys by injecting them with testosterone, cutting off their breasts, and sexually changing their genitals.” The group also produced radio ads, such as one titled “War On Children,” which claims that LGBTQ+ inclusive education and transgender acceptance in schools constitute a “war on innocence.”
Political ads targeting Raphael Warnock for his stance on transgender issues were a prominent feature of the 2022 election cycle. In the final week leading up to the election, Herschel Walker, Warnock’s Republican opponent, appeared alongside former collegiate swimmer and anti-trans activist Riley Gaines in an ad blitz that specifically focused on transgender participation in women’s sports. Despite the substantial anti-trans attacks on his candidacy, Warnock ultimately secured victory in a tight race, demonstrating that anti-trans tactics were not viable even in swing states like Georgia.
Anti-transgender attack ads and campaigns largely failed on a national scale in 2022 and 2023. One of the most notable examples occurred during the Virginia legislature elections, where transgender participation in sports was one of the top four issues pushed by Governor Glenn Youngkin against Democratic candidates attempting to gain control of the legislature. Despite Youngkin’s focus on this issue, Democrats went on to win both the House and the Senate. Similarly, in Michigan’s 2022 legislative elections, a Republican Party chair openly criticized their own spending strategy, attributing their losses to millions spent on anti-trans ads rather than focusing on core issues like the economy and jobs.
Other failures include the Arizona gubernatorial race, the Wisconsin Supreme Court election, and the reelection of Kentucky’s Governor Andy Beshear, who had vetoed an anti-trans bill and was therefore targeted by millions in anti-trans ad spends. In each of these races, Republicans invested heavily in anti-trans advertising, only to see those campaigns fall short.
Now, with recent revelations about Elon Musk’s political donations, we know that he was one of the largest contributors to far-right causes funding campaigns like these. His financial support makes him a key figure behind some of the earliest failed political attack ads targeting transgender rights.
Musk has promised similar spending in 2024. In 2023, he stated his intention to lobby for the criminalization of doctors providing gender-affirming care to transgender youth. America PAC, which Musk helped create, has already spent $30 million since mid-August. Shortly after the Reuters Report, it announced a partnership with Turning Point Action in Wisconsin, the 501(c)(4) offshoot of Turning Point USA, founded by anti-transgender activist Charlie Kirk. Musk has also recently announced plans to relocate X/Twitter and SpaceX employees to Texas in response to Governor Gavin Newsom signing a ban on forced outing in California.
Anti-transgender ad spending in 2024 is set to surpass the levels seen in 2022 and 2023. With Super PACs like the Senate Leadership Fund already committing $80 million to states like Ohio, where anti-trans ads have flooded media markets for months, Musk's partnership with Turning Point will likely drive these efforts even further. However, if Republicans once again fail to secure victories in races where these ads are a central focus, they may finally have to confront the reality that anti-trans rhetoric is not the political force they believe it to be.
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