A marijuana industry-funded political committee donated $1 million to President Donald Trump’s MAGA Inc. super PAC in the first half of this year, according to newly published Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings.
The American Rights and Reform PAC, which launched in 2023 under a different name, Legalize America, took in money from multiple cannabis companies to support its work, which included ads released in May that attacked former President Joe Biden’s marijuana policy record in an apparent attempt to push Trump to go further on the issue.
But beyond the ads, the cannabis PAC separately contributed $1 million to MAGA Inc., describing it as a “donation,” the FEC documents show.
While a sizable contribution, a broader look at the MAGA Inc. PAC receipts in the midyear report show it’s something of a drop in the bucket, as the committee took in more than $177 million total between January 1 and June 30 from a wide range of sources. That includes $1 million from the tobacco giant Altria Client Services, $5 million from Elon Musk, $16 million from GOP megadonor Jeff Yass and $1 million from Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones.
Meanwhile, a post that recently circulated on social media appears to show that MAGA Inc., which is also referred to as also called Make America Great Again Inc., itself created an ad that touts Trump’s support for “commonsense reform” such as removing cannabis from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) and letting states set their own policies.
The American Rights and Reform PAC also spent $300,000 with X Strategies, LLC, a political consulting firm, for “media.” The company’s CEO, Alex Bruesewitz, describes himself as a Trump advisor and is among a slew of conservative figures who have recently taken to social media to make the case for reform under the current administration.
Notably, among Bruesewitz’s marijuana-related X posts is one from last month stating that he has “no personal stake in this debate.”
Read more at Marijuana Moment
