Canvassers For Musk-Linked PAC Say They Were Misled Into Campaigning For Trump With Unsafe Conditions

Paid canvassers in Michigan hired by a firm associated with billionaire Elon Musk reported they were deceived into knocking doors for Donald Trump’s benefit and were threatened by the firm to pay for their motel rooms and flights back home if they didn’t meet their set goals.

According to a report by WIRED, Blitz Canvassing, a subcontractor of Musk’s America PAC, hired paid canvassers in an effort to help turn out the vote for Trump, but didn’t inform canvassers about this.

“I knew nothing of the job, or much of the job description, other than going door to door and asking the voters who are they voting for,” a door knocker who spoke in anonymity told WIRED. “Then, after I signed over an NDA, is when I found out we are for Republicans and with Trump.”

According to workers, Blitz informed them they are “expected to maintain a 17-22% engagement rate during the campaign,” which is an unusually high target, as many people do not typically open their door for a stranger. In addition, workers were told that if they didn’t hit their targets the organization would stop paying for their motel rooms.

“What’s gonna happen is, they’re gonna stop paying for these rooms,” a manager told the door knockers in an audio recording obtained by WIRED. “And then you’re gonna end up having to pay for it yourself. You can’t do that with no money.” The door knocker also said that they were told they would have to pay for their own flight home.

Transportation issues were also particularly concerning. Initially, canvassers were promised rental cars, but the arrangement fell through, and Ubers were only briefly used before the team was asked to travel in U-Hauls without seatbelts.

In another video obtained by WIRED the U-Haul driver expressed he was in pain.

“I just had surgery, bro,” the U-Haul driver says. “Like half of my foot is cut off.”

“I’m scared,” the door knocker who spoke to WIRED replies on the recording.

In addition, they were required to log their interactions with potential voters using Campaign Sidekick, an app that has been criticized for technical issues. These include unreliable tracking and significant flaws in geo-verification, raising concerns about the accuracy of logged interactions.

“And all [the manager] is concerned about is how many motherfuckin’ doors the bitch got,” the driver said in a video recording.