The world’s richest man, Elon Musk, spoke to a packed town hall in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, where he downplayed January 6 US Capitol riots and suggested the ballot was a “recipe for fraud.”
In response to someone asking Musk what his message is to young voters who are worried “that electing a second Trump president will lead to a democratic retreat,” Musk replied, “The media is trying to portray January 6 as some kind of violent uprising. , which is not the case,” he said, causing the crowd to applaud. More than 100 law enforcement personnel were injured in the attack, some with their own weapons, while many Trump supporters believed he was lying. 2020 election stolen from him attacking the Capitol to stop the certification of votes.
“It’s not like the protests on January 6th didn’t have merit, they did,” Musk said. “I don’t agree with the magnitude of what they’re doing, but it’s not like there aren’t problems,” Musk said.
Musk claimed that people “who say Trump is a threat to democracy are themselves a threat to democracy,” a comment that was also received with applause by many of the several hundred people packed into the ballroom. Many others watched the event on X, Musk’s social media platform purchased two years ago.
Trump, he said, “actually told people not to be violent.” When Trump to the crowd on January 6 for a “peaceful and patriotic” protest, he also encouraged that “fight like hell“To stop Democrat Joe Biden from being president.
Musk spent nearly two hours taking questions from town hall attendees. The freewheeling session in the ballroom of a hotel in downtown Lancaster touched on a wide range of topics, from space exploration and Tesla’s cybertruck to immigration and the efficacy of psychiatric drugs. The town hall is part of Musk’s effort through his super PAC to help boost Trump in swing states ahead of the Nov. 5 presidential election against Democrat Kamala Harris. Trump has said he will give Musk a role in the administration if he wins the presidency.
Musk was generally hailed by town halls as a visionary and asked for his advice and thoughts on education, arm wrestling, tax loopholes and whether he would buy the Chicago White Sox. (He said he was a tech guy and had to vote for war.) Trump won Lancaster County in the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections, and he won Pennsylvania in 2016 against Hillary Clinton but lost in 2020 to Joe Biden.
Musk said he was in favor of “not onerous” artificial intelligence regulations and opposed “awakening religions” as “extinct religions”. He said the U.S. birth rate is a significant concern.
He said that Jesus was a real person who lived about 2,000 years ago and, when asked what was the best advice he ever received, he replied: “I would suggest studying physics.”
Musk, the world’s richest man, has pledged more than $70 million to boost Trump in the election and, in an event on behalf of a super PAC, has encouraged supporters to embrace early voting. Still, echoing some of Trump’s doubts about the method, Musk raised his own doubts about the process. He called the ballot “a strange anomaly that’s popular during COVID,” and then said of the vote that “really, you have a clear recipe for fraud and you can’t prove fraud.”
Samuel Corum/Getty Images
There are several safeguards to protect ballot paperswith multiple ballot verification protocols, including each state that requires voter signatures.
He also called town hall attendee Judey Kamora to the stage to present him with a huge check for $1 million, as part of his promotion. give away $1 million a day for voters in swing states who have signed a super PAC proposal that supports the US Constitution.
Musk did not mention the Justice Department’s recent warning that the $1 million sweepstakes could violate federal election laws. He also did not comment on a Wall Street Journal report that the tech billionaire is in continued contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Giveaways are just as good as Josh Fox, 32, a UPS driver from Dillsburg, Pennsylvania.
“It’s cool,” Fox said, looking forward to Saturday’s rally. “It would be nice to have.”
Fox, which plans to vote for Trump, rejected suggestions that the money could violate federal election rules.
“It’s about driving support and driving in people who support the Constitution,” Fox said.
contributed to this report.
