Ashley St. Clair, a former MAGA influencer and colleague of Elon Musk, has made a series of explosive claims about the American political right, saying she has been offered large sums of money to remain silent and claiming that parts of the MAGA movement operate through coordinated private group chats featuring prominent political figures.In an interview with journalist Mehdi Hassan, St. Clair said she was once offered money to promote former US Ambassador Rick Grenell to the position of Secretary of State. She claimed there are “multiple conversations they’re working on,” which she said sometimes include Trump administration officials and members of Trump’s family. Grenell has previously denied involvement in any such effort.St. Clair also said that after she distanced herself from MAGA politics, she faced pressure from figures within the movement and said she was offered large sums of money to remain silent about her experiences.“I did,” she said when asked if she had ever turned down a financial offer.“I’m not at liberty to debate but I turned down enough money that it represents the GDP of a small country,” she said.
She also spoke about changing her political views, her time in MAGA, and critics’ claims that she changed her position out of personal anger or retaliation against Musk.Addressing these allegations, she rejected the idea that her views were motivated 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 my semester with 22 credits and I plan to go to law school. This is what I want to do. I want to start fighting and making amends within the system that I believe perpetuates so much harm.”She also said she expected backlash from former MAGA allies. “I knew what MAGA’s reaction would be. I’ve been in that cult for about a decade.
I knew exactly how they would respond to me and I was prepared to be ostracized. “I was ready to be done with it.”During the interview, St. Clair said she later reconsidered her views after being exposed to different personal viewpoints and experiences. Interacting with transgender friends and reading historical novels, including slave narratives, influenced her thinking, she said.“There were a lot of things. It happened slowly, and then it all happened at once,” she said.She also claimed that there was a strong culture of mistrust within conservative circles towards mainstream media and academic institutions, including encouragement to report professors via activist lists.The interview also touched on her relationship with tech billionaire Elon Musk and her legal action against his artificial intelligence company xAI, after it allegedly produced deepfake photos of her.
