How the Midterms Are Rigged

Why nobody is telling you about it

A recent episode of Inside Trump’s Head, Michael Wolff’s video podcast, ran a segment on the midterms that detailed Elon Musk’s political spending: the hundreds of millions for Trump and the Republicans, the PAC, the strategists. It was good journalism about the wrong thing.

Nobody mentioned the feed.

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Wolff is not the problem. He is simply a typical example. The corporate press, the independent blogosphere and the political opposition all make the same choice. They count the money and ignore the machine. Nobody has to plan it for the money to work as the perfect decoy.

What gets counted

The money is real and documented. According to OpenSecrets, Musk gave more than $290 million to Republican causes in 2024, making him the largest individual donor by nearly $100 million. For the midterms, the New York Times reports his America PAC has authorised up to $120 million for Republican turnout alone.

That is the kind of fact journalism is built for. It is disclosed to a regulator, it has a source and a recipient, and it fits in a headline.