A super PAC engaged in a cynical two-step designed to simultaneously discourage Arab American and Jewish voters by advertising contrasting messages about Vice President Kamala Harris’ Middle East policies is being funded by a dark-money group that is bankrolled by right-wing tech and auto industry billionaire Elon Musk, according to a financial disclosure made public on Tuesday.
Here’s how it works: In areas of Michigan with large numbers of Arab and Muslim voters, Future Coalition PAC is running digital ads about how Vice President Kamala Harris is a staunch and unyielding supporter of Israel.
“Kamala and Doug, America’s pro-Israel power couple,” the narrator of one of the group’s ads declares after discussing Israel’s “noble fight against the radical terrorists in Gaza.” One mail item from the group says Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, “leans on Jewish husband Doug Emhoff to advise on high-level pro-Israel policies.”
Many Jewish Democrats have argued that, among other qualities, the ads’ focus on second gentleman Doug Emhoff is antisemitic.
That component of the advertising blitz reprises a well-known, though not exactly common, bit of campaign dark arts: Highlight a quality you claim to see as positive or negative, knowing the intended audience will have the opposite takeaway.
But it’s the second component of Future Coalition PAC’s advertising that really raises its cynicism to new heights. The group is simultaneously targeting Pennsylvania’s Jewish voters with advertisements claiming Harris has been “pandering” to Palestinians.
“In Jewish communities throughout America, questions are being asked: Why did Kamala Harris support denying Israel the weapons needed to defeat the Hamas terrorists who massacred thousands?” the 30-second spot says. “And why did Harris show sympathy for college protesters who are rabidly antisemitic?”
The ads aim to help former President Donald Trump by cleaving Jewish and Arab American voters away from Harris in key states at a time when both groups are deeply invested in Israel’s U.S.-backed wars in Gaza and Lebanon ― albeit usually for divergent reasons.
For voters curious about just who is funding Future Coalition PAC, the group’s disclosure to the Federal Election Commission on Tuesday offers some welcome, if incomplete, information.
The group’s $3 million budget so far comes entirely from a nonprofit, Building America’s Future, which is not required to reveal the names of its donors.
However, The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this month that Tesla co-founder Musk, one of the wealthiest men in the world and an occasional spreader of antisemitic conspiracy theories, is among the backers of Building America’s Future.
Musk has becoming increasingly crucial to funding Trump’s political operation and is also funding one of the major super PACs responsible for Trump’s get-out-the-vote efforts. According to a new FEC filing, Musk has given nearly $75 million to America PAC, the super PAC that has become a critical source of pro-Trump field organizing in the seven battleground states.
The New York Times, which broke news of Building America’s Future’s role before the FEC filing became public on Tuesday and confirmed Musk’s role in the organization, also reported that Building America’s Future had raised about $100 million over the past four years and has roughly only a dozen corporate or individual donors. In keeping with Musk’s interest in alleged voter fraud, Building America’s Future offers people $5 million awards for evidence of “illegal voting” or other election-related abuses.
It also emerged Tuesday that Building America’s Future is funding Duty to America PAC, a super PAC that aims to peel young men and Black voters away from the Democratic Party.
“These ads demonstrate the Republican strategy of weaponizing hate and vitriol to divide Americans in order to achieve their political goals,” Halie Soifer, CEO of the Jewish Democratic Council of America, said in a statement. “These ads aim to drive a wedge between minority communities by exploiting bigotry and disinformation, and we condemn it in the strongest possible terms. It’s appalling and on brand for Donald Trump.”
Arab American leaders, however, have been critical of Harris for refusing to back any changes to President Joe Biden’s Middle East policies. Though Harris has expressed sympathy for the devastation endured by Palestinians in Gaza and support for Biden’s decision to withhold 2,000-pound bombs, she plans to continue granting Israel virtually all other American aid without additional conditions.
Future Coalition PAC’s advertising campaign is “very smart. It’s devious. It’s a kind of disinformation. It’s clearly designed to suppress Arab voters for Democrats,” said Jim Zogby, founder of the Arab American Institute. “And the problem is: Democrats don’t have a response.”
Zogby, who is backing Harris, has privately lobbied Harris to make some kind of policy gesture, such as committing to enforcing U.S. law prohibiting use of its aid for illegal purposes. He has a more modest ask, though, as well: that Harris publicly appeal to Arab Americans for their votes as even Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, Trump’s running mate, did when asked about it at a rally in Detroit last week.
“She has not, in a public speech, said, ‘I want Arab American votes.’ And it hurts,” Zogby added.