Mitch McConnell funneled cash to PAC to pit Arab and Jewish voters against Harris

A super PAC Allied with Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has poured money into a group that has used inflammatory tactics to turn Muslim and Jewish voters against Kamala Harris.

The McConnell-aligned Senate Leadership Fund donated $1.5 million to the FC PAC, formerly known as the Future Coalition PAC, which has been criticized for its wedge tactics this election cycle.

In ads targeting Arab voters in Michigan, the PAC highlighted the Jewish faith of Harris' husband Doug Emhoff, a move observers condemned as anti-Semitic.

A recent FC PAC Snapchat ad targeting zip codes with large Arab populations in Michigan said Harris is “a truly pro-Israel president, right when we need one.” It added that her husband Doug Emhoff would be “the first Jewish presidential spouse ever!”

Replete with money from the Senate Leadership Fund as well as a new $2 million cash infusion from a dark money nonprofit allegedly funded by Elon Musk, Thursday's campaign finance report shows the FC PAC ahead of the Nov. 5 election doesn't slow down.

Oversized attacks

When supporters of George W. Bush wanted to spread bizarre rumors about the late Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., during the 2000 presidential primary, they found a simple and inexpensive way to appeal to their target audience while remaining anonymous: They posted outside a Debate racist leaflets on car windshields.

There were allegations that Bush man Karl Rove was behind dirty tricks against McCain, but the campaign denied this. The name of the organization was not attached, and no Federal Election Commission filings were linked to the actions.

Today, a slew of ugly campaign ads — some based on stereotypes, others resorting to deception — are coming not from obscurity but from FEC-registered groups with millions in their war chests. Thanks to the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision, the rise of anonymous donations, and the microtargeting of online advertising, practitioners of the dark arts of politics have larger budgets than ever before. Well-known political activists occupy the groups and implement their strategies. And candidates like Donald Trump are doing little to distance themselves from this endeavor.

Anna Massoglia, the investigative director for OpenSecrets, a nonprofit that tracks election spending, said: “The scale is in some ways unprecedented.”

To an untrained observer, some of the ads, such as the Snapchat spot in Michigan, might look like they came from the Harris campaign itself.

But by targeting areas with large Arab populations, such as Dearborn, the goal is to drive down voter turnout rather than win support. It's a cynical ploy that appears to assume that Snapchat users in these areas are disgusted by the Biden-Harris administration's support of Israel or that dubious tropes of Arab anti-Semitism apply.

The tell is another ad in Pennsylvania, where there is a sizable Jewish population, that says, “Duplicitous Kamala Harris is secretly advocating for Palestine and trying to get away with it.”

The FC PAC's treasurer is listed as a longtime Republican activist from Pennsylvania who did not respond to a request for comment. The PAC is financially supported by a dark money nonprofit that has reportedly received funding from Elon Musk, Building America's Future.

Few other details have emerged about Musk's role in the nonprofit group. The FC PAC did not respond to a request for comment on whether Musk was involved in managing its operations.

Trump has appeared at Building America's Future events in recent weeks and will do so again next week in Pennsylvania.

The FC PAC received a $3 million donation from Building America's Future earlier this year, which was matched by another $2 million on Oct. 7, according to a campaign finance report Thursday. The Senate Leadership Fund's contribution came on Oct. 16, long after critics accused FC PAC of running anti-Semitic ads.

In recent weeks, the PAC's ads have targeted Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Elissa Slotkin in addition to Harris.

Neither the Trump campaign nor the Senate Leadership Fund responded to requests for comment.

The FC PAC was previously called Future Coalition PAC until it filed paperwork with the FEC last week to change its name. This shift came after a longstanding progressive nonprofit called Future Coalition issued a statement denigrating the group.

“We strongly condemn Future Coalition PAC's anti-Semitic and hateful advertisements that misuse our name and brand for political actions that do not align with our values ​​or principles,” the original group said in a statement. “We urge our supporters, partners and the general public to remain vigilant and critical of the sources of political messages during this time of worrying attempts to spread misinformation and foment division.”

Hidden financing

But it's harder than ever to stay vigilant about political advertising. When shady players targeted McCain in 2000, they kept their names secret – either to avoid legal trouble or to maintain distance from the tactics.

These days, the FC PAC appears to be following all of the FEC's disclosure rules. The difference is that federal courts have shredded campaign finance rules to the point where they are almost meaningless. With two decisions in 2010, Citizens United and SpeechNow.org, the courts opened the door to unlimited donations from corporate or nonprofit donors to “independent” campaign groups.

Taking advantage of these rulings, Building America's Future donated much of the funds to the FC PAC, which it used to run a barrage of online ads on Facebook, YouTube and Snapchat that garnered hundreds of thousands of views.

Building America's Future itself is not required to disclose its donors. What little insight the public has into the nonprofit's funding comes from reports in the Wall Street Journal and The New York Times that it received money from Musk.

“One of the biggest things we're seeing is not so much big-name corporations spending corporate treasury money independently on campaign spending, but we're seeing 501c4s (nonprofits) being created to hide what the money is being used for.” PAC is coming of,” said Erin Chlopak, senior director of campaign finance at the Campaign Legal Center.

FC PAC has checked boxes in campaign finance reports indicating its ads both support and oppose Harris. According to campaign finance experts, there is nothing that can stop any group from doing so.

“An ad that claims to speak on behalf of a candidate when the speaker is not authorized to do so – that would violate a law. But beyond that, the courts have ruled several times that you cannot regulate the content of political messages,” Chlopak said.

The microtargeting used by FC PAC is also used by Building America's Future and affiliated groups for the numerous ads they have run on social media. According to the FEC, Building America's Future employs several of the same campaign contractors.

Massoglia uncovered a group affiliated with Building America's Future called Progress 2028 that highlighted exaggerated or outdated policy positions from Harris that appeared aimed at alienating moderate or conservative voters. The group's name appears to be a reference to Project 2025, the conservative wish list for the next Trump administration that has become a liability for his campaign.

“We know we have Kamala on our side when it comes to a fracking ban, but did you know that Kamala wasn't just a supporter of the Green New Deal – she was the first presidential candidate in 2020 to fully embrace and “All about it?” asks an ad that has been shown over a million times in swing states, including Pennsylvania.

Harris once supported banning fracking and the Green New Deal, but has backed away from both positions during the campaign.

Other advertising campaigns supported by Building America's Future have tried to target black voters with messages about the administration's proposed ban on menthol cigarettes, or young men loving Zyn – a cult nicotine pouch that once included Tucker Carlson.

“They also use so many different fictitious names, and they all target very specific voting blocs,” Massoglia said. “Plus, the fact that they focus their ads on both sides of different issues… and pit them against each other is truly remarkable.”