Elon Musk-Funded PAC Supercharges ‘Progress 2028’ Democrat Impersonation Ad Campaign
An Elon Musk-funded PAC is targeting Republicans with ads that depict a fever-dream caricature of what Harris would do if elected president.
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Elon Musk-Funded PAC Supercharges ‘Progress 2028’ Democrat Impersonation Ad Campaign
JASON KOEBLER·OCT 29, 2024 AT 10:54 AM
An Elon Musk-funded PAC is targeting Republicans with ads that depict a fever-dream caricature of what Harris would do if elected president.
An Elon Musk-funded super PAC has expanded an advertising campaign in which it is impersonating Democrats and targeting registered Republicans with policies unpopular with conservatives they say Kamala Harris will pass if she wins the election. The policies, which are not supported by the Harris campaign, include “mandatory” gun buy-back programs, allowing undocumented immigrants to vote, keeping parents out of decisions about gender-affirming care for minors, and imagining “a world without gas-powered vehicles.”
The campaign, called Progress 2028, is designed to look like it is the Democratic version of Project 2025 and lists a set of policies that the group says Harris would enact if elected president. In actuality, the entire scheme is being orchestrated and promoted by an Elon Musk-funded group called Building America’s Future, which registered to operate “Progress 2028” as a “fictitious name” under the PAC, according to documents uncovered by OpenSecrets, which investigates money in politics. Building America’s Future is the group we previously reported on, which is targeting Muslims in Michigan and Jewish people in Pennsylvania with opposing messages about Harris’s stance on Israel’s invasion of Palestine.
Until last weekend, the group had been relatively quiet, running only two very similar ads on Facebook that said Harris was running on a platform for “safe, inclusive schools … where every young person can thrive, regardless of their gender identity or expression.” Another ad said “SAY IT WITH US: Every person, no matter their immigration status, undocumented or not, deserves access to Medicare.” Republicans in swing states have also been receiving text message ads with similar messaging, according to screenshots posted to Reddit, research shared with 404 Media, and registered Republicans who have shared screenshots of ads with 404 Media. The ads feature caricatured, exaggerated versions of Democratic policies that are widely unpopular with conservatives.
The Progress 2028 page spent $36,724 on those Facebook ads between October 6 and October 12, according to Meta’s ad library.
In the last week alone, it has increased that spend by nearly 1,000 percent, spending $328,590 and bringing its total spend on Facebook to more than $520,000. These ads say things like “Let’s remove barriers for undocumented immigrants who are undocumented!” “Help make our schools as trans-friendly as possible,” “A national, mandatory buy-back program means fewer guns & fewer tragedies. Kamala Harris gets it!” “Kamala Harris will champion the right for minors to access the care they need without fear of parental intervention or discrimination. Let’s work together to transform our schools into the most trans-friendly environments possible!” “We’re beyond thrilled to have Kamala on our side for the ban on fracking!” “Imagine a world without gas-powered vehicles. KAMALA HAS! SEE HER VISION FOR OUR FUTURE.”
Do you know anything else about Progress 2028 or political ads more broadly? I would love to hear from you. Using a non-work device, you can message me securely on Signal at +1 202 505 1702. Otherwise, send me an email at jason@404media.co.
In the last week, Progress 2028 bought 12 different ads, which it subtargeted to 819 different Facebook audience segments. Judging the actual impact and spread of this on Facebook is complicated because of Meta’s not-very-good ad library analytics. Meta allows an advertiser to buy an ad, then to target different groups with that advertisement. Meta’s ad library tells users the number of times any given ad was targeted at a different audience but does not say what the targeting parameters are and gives very rough estimates for the number of people who have been hit with any ad. Meta's audience estimates will say things like an ad cost "less than $100" and was seen by "less than 1,000 people," but there will be dozens of versions of any single ad, and the total ad spend can be hundreds of thousands of dollars. It looks like this:
Over the weekend and on Monday, a Republican-registered voter in Pennsylvania told 404 Media he got “fake Harris campaign” text messages from Progress 2028 that he shared with us. One said “Imagine a world where we get dangerous guns off our streets — for good,” and which promotes a gun buyback program. Another text sent to them today says “Kamala Harris supports undocumented immigrants gaining access to Medicare and essential resources. And that’s a good thing!” And a third says “What would you say to a future with ZERO fracking and 100% electric vehicles by 2035? We say
… and ‘how can we help?’ Kamala Harris fighting for a greener future!”
While Facebook’s ad library is limited in the information you can search for and discover, political text message ads are an almost total black box. No telecom company shares a database of political text message ads, meaning any information about them comes from the people receiving them sharing them with reporters or on social media. So while it’s possible to more-or-less track Progress 2028’s activity online, it is essentially impossible to follow its text messaging campaigns.
Government transparency expert Alex Howard wrote about this problem last week, and noted that TV and radio stations are required to publish records of political ads online; he argues that telecom companies should be required to, also.
“For many decades, broadcasters have been legally obligated to maintain these ad files at stations for public inspection,” Howard wrote. “In 2018, I was worried that we’d see ephemeral social media messages funded by dark money that targeted certain voters and disappeared with no trace. Snapchat upholding one of its democratic obligations made that harder to do on its platform. In 2024, I assess that highly targeted text messages present a similar vulnerability, with a parallel disclosure cliff that's leaving Americans in the dark.Telecom companies like Verizon, T-Mobile, and AT&T should begin voluntarily disclosing open ad files of political texts with targeting data — and legislators and regulators should ensure it’s not optional for them or tech companies in the years ahead.”
While the online ads state they are paid for by “Progress 2028,” which itself is fully funded by Building America’s Future, the text messages do not have any such disclaimer.
The little information we have about text messages from Progress 2028 suggests that they are hitting their intended targets, and that the operation has been, at times, sloppy.
One of those text messages was posted by a user on r/gunpolitics with the title “Vote. Like your rights depend on it…” The message says “Kamala Harris will support a nationwide gun buy-back program [sic] will take dangerous weapons off our streets in Bloomsburg. Fewer guns = fewer tragedies. A mandatory buy-back is the only way to keep our streets safe.” The screenshot suggested that the text message had the intended effect; the person who received it said “I have a nice warm bowl of cat shyt you commies can share over the Canadian border, where you belong. fukk you…. From me and America.”
The phone number used to send that text message, 855-430-4807, was also used to send a text message to Republicans in Pennsylvania stating “We have a real opportunity with Kamala Harris to make it easier for undocumented immigrants to get driver’s licenses and access affordable housing.” This summer, that same phone number was sending messages to voters stating “DC Democrats are pushing a menthol ban while you’re struggling with rent, gas, and groceries,” which is a message that a PAC related to Building America’s Future has been targeting Black voters with in swing states. The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this month that Musk has given tens of millions of dollars to the organization funding Building America’s Future and its related PACs.
