Fact Check: Did Elon Musk pay Democrat Haley Stevens $2M to endorse Republican Mike Rogers?
WASHINGTON, DC: A rumor involving Elon Musk, Democratic Congresswoman Haley Stevens and Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers has spread widely online during the 2026 US midterm elections. Social media posts claim that Musk paid Stevens $2 million to support Rogers.
The rumor surfaced after Stevens surprised voters on November 1 by endorsing Rogers over Democratic candidate Abdul El-Sayed in the Michigan Senate race. Following her announcement, social media users suggested that Musk paid her to change her political support.
Claim: Elon Musk paid Stevens $2M to endorse Mike Rogers
After Haley Stevens announced her support for Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers instead of Democratic candidate Abdul El-Sayed, social media users began questioning her sudden change in support.
As people discussed her decision, a rumor spread online claiming that tech billionaire Elon Musk had paid Stevens $2 million to endorse Rogers.
The claim attracted attention on social media, with several users sharing posts about the alleged payment. Some readers also contacted Snopes to ask whether the rumor was true.
The Facebook user wrote, "Elon Musk paid Haley Stevens two million dollars to endorse Mike Rogers for the Senate race in Michigan."
The rumor also gained attention because Musk played a major role in political donations during the 2026 US midterm elections. According to OpenSecrets, a nonprofit that tracks political money using Federal Election Commission data, Musk donated more than $445 million to Republican candidates. This made him the largest political donor during the election period.
Fact Check: The claim is false
The claim is false. There is no evidence that Elon Musk recently donated money to Haley Stevens. It is not clear where the rumor first started, but it spread mainly through social media.
No reliable news organisation has reported that Musk sent money to Stevens. Some social media posts that shared the allegation have since been deleted, suggesting that the original account may have removed its post.
Stevens has criticized Musk in the past. In 2025, she introduced a bill to stop him from accessing the US Department of the Treasury's payment system and sensitive personal and business information belonging to Americans.
However, records from the Federal Election Commission (FEC) show that Stevens kept donations made by SpaceX to her House campaign and leadership political action committee between 2019 and 2024. SpaceX did not donate to her Senate campaign.
Although there is no evidence that Musk paid Stevens to change her endorsement, her disagreement with Abdul El-Sayed over US support for Israel may help explain her decision to support Mike Rogers instead.
Stevens has strongly supported Israel and received more than $36 million from the main super PAC of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), according to Track AIPAC, a group that tracks political donations.
