Former MAGA influencer and Elon Musk associate Ashley St Clair has made a series of explosive claims about the US political right, alleging that she was offered large sums of money to remain silent and that parts of the MAGA movement operate through coordinated private group chats involving senior political figures.
Claims of Financial Offers and Private Chats
In an interview with journalist Mehdi Hasan, St Clair said she was once offered money to promote former US ambassador Ric Grenell for secretary of state. She claimed there were “multiple chats they operate in,” which she said sometimes included Trump administration officials and members of the Trump family. Grenell has previously denied involvement in any such effort.
St Clair also said that after distancing herself from MAGA politics, she faced pressure from figures within the movement and was offered substantial money to keep quiet about her experiences. “I did,” she said when asked if she had refused a financial offer. She elaborated: “I'm not at liberty to discuss but I've turned down enough money that it is the GDP of a small nation.”
Shift in Political Views
She also spoke about changing her political views, her time in MAGA, and claims from critics that she shifted her position out of personal anger or revenge against Elon Musk. Addressing those claims, she rejected the idea that her views were driven by revenge or financial gain. “Well first of all I'm not making any money from this. I'm back in school. I just finished out my semester with 22 credits and I plan to go to law school. That's what I want to do. I want to start fighting and making amends within the system that I believe is perpetuating a lot of harm.”
She also said she had anticipated backlash from former MAGA allies. “I knew what the reaction of MAGA was going to be. I was within this cult for almost a decade. I knew exactly how they were going to respond to me and I was ready to be ostracized. I was ready to be done with it.”
Influences on Her Change of Heart
During the interview, St Clair said she later reconsidered her views after exposure to different perspectives and personal experiences. She said interactions with transgender friends and reading historical accounts, including slave narratives, influenced her thinking. “There were a lot of things. It happened slowly and then all at once,” she said.
She also claimed that within conservative circles there was a strong culture of distrust toward mainstream media and academic institutions, including encouragement to report professors via activist lists.
Legal Action Against xAI
The interview also touched on her relationship with tech billionaire Elon Musk and her legal action against his AI company xAI, after she claimed it generated explicit deepfake images of her.
St Clair's allegations shed light on the inner workings of the MAGA movement and the pressures faced by those who leave it.
