By The Independent (World News) | Created at 2024-10-06 00:05:18 | Updated at 2024-10-06 02:31:57
2 hours ago
Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox
Get our free Inside Washington email
Elon Musk, the CEO of X and Tesla, spoke during Donald Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on Saturday, and made the brazenly false claim that Democrats were going to eliminate elections in the US.
Trump — returning to the site where he was nearly assassinated in July — introduced Musk as the man who “saved free speech“ and as a “rocket builder,” claiming his company Space X was the only reason that American astronauts can return to space.
The world’s wealthiest man took the stage in a black “Make America Great Again” hat and told the crowd he was “dark MAGA” — seemingly referencing the fringe far-right meme — before taking a swipe at President Joe Biden.
He said the president is a man who “couldn’t climb a flight of stairs” before comparing him to Trump, who he praised for jumping back to his feet after a bullet fired by a gunman armed with an AR-15 grazed his ear on the same stage on July 13.
“Fight, fight, fight,” said Musk, invoking Trump’s words in the moments after that shooting.
Musk then falsely claimed that Democrats were trying to strip away Americans’ rights to free spech, to bear arms, and to vote.
“I think this election is the most important election of our lifetime. This is no ordinary election,” he said. “President Trump must win to preserve the Constitution. He must win to preserve democracy in America. This is a must win situation, must win.”
The Tesla CEO then launched into a rambling appeal to Americans, asking them to register to vote, and made the brazenly baseless claim that Democrats were going to eliminate elections in America.
“Like, text people [to register to vote] now. Now. And then make sure they actually do vote,” he said.
“If they don’t, this will be the last election,” he added. “That’s my prediction.”
Musk does not have a background in politics.
Shortly after making that claim, Trump admitted that he had no idea what Musk’s satellite internet service, Starlink, was.
Trump said he “called up Elon” to ask him to use Starlink to assist Americans affected by Hurricane Helene in North Carolina, where internet and communication services suffered severe disruption.
“Elon, could you do something about Starlink, whatever the hell that is, Elon?” Trump said.
Musk’s hard right-wing turn wasn’t a surprise for most of his naysayers.
Critics of Musk had suspected that his views were aligned with right-wing, cultural war politics for years. He often complained about the “woke mind virus” and the “matrix” — a term used primarily by right-wing figures looking to explain away social backlash to their actions and ideologies — in his X posts.
Musk made his political leanings clear during this election cycle when he endorsed Trump for president on the same day the former president was nearly killed in Butler, and committed to give $45 million each month to the former president’s campaign, though he later walked back his offer.
But Muek has been a major donor in Republican circles for years. According to The Wall Street Journal, Musk has reportedly funneled approximately $60 million to groups affiliated with former Trump adviser Stephen Miller and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
Two people familiar with Musk’s donations told Reuters in October that he began contributing to Building America’s Future in 2022.
The admiration appears to be mutual between the men; Trump said he would appoint Musk to a task force with the mission of making “drastic” cuts to government spending.
“I can’t wait. There is a lot of waste and needless regulation in government that needs to go,” Musk wrote on X. “This would unlock tremendous prosperity for America.”
In addition to his alleged donations and possible future position in a Trump task force, Musk has also given Trump and his allies a huge platform through X, formerly Twitter, which Musk bought for $44 billion in 2022.
Musk has reshaped the platform by slashing attempts to stop disinformation and conspiracy theories and welcoming the return of previously banned users.
Shortly after Tucker Carlson was fired from Fox News, Musk struck up an agreement with the former Fox host to lead a show on his platform. Then, shortly after the assassination attempt on Trump, Musk hosted a glitchy interview with the former president on X, during which the men shared their mutual disdain for labor unions.
