Elon Musk held his first solo occasion in assist of Donald Trump for president on Thursday, encouraging voters within the Philadelphia suburbs to register to forged their ballots and vote early, although some attendees shouted again, “Why?”
The America PAC occasion at Ridley Excessive Faculty’s auditorium in Folsom featured the world’s richest man talking onstage in entrance of a big U.S. flag for roughly quarter-hour earlier than taking questions from the group, lots of whom wore “Make America Great Again” hats.
The occasion was billed as a name to motion to vote early within the essential battleground state of Pennsylvania, the place Trump and Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris are fiercely contesting the election. Some within the crowd questioned Musk’s entreaties to vote early, reflecting the chance that Republicans are nonetheless persuading their supporters to embrace early voting after Trump spent years demonizing the tactic.
The group rose to its toes and took cellphone movies as Musk, the billionaire founding father of Tesla and House X and proprietor of the social media platform X, walked onstage. They remained standing throughout his remarks and cheered loudly after he stated the U.S. Structure must be upheld.
“This is literally the fundamental values that made America what it is today. And anyone who is against those things is fundamentally anti-American and to hell with them,” stated Musk, who was born in South Africa. The group erupted.
He exhorted the group to ensure they and their family and friends had been registered to vote and to “pester” those that weren’t. Towards the top of the query interval, which included greater than a dozen from these within the viewers, he was requested to clarify whether or not folks ought to vote early in Pennsylvania. Musk was momentarily distracted by a fan waving a hat, which he appeared to signal, after which by a baby whom he introduced onstage for a photograph.
Redirected to the query, he stated folks ought to vote instantly.
Some within the crowd cupped their arms and shouted, “Why?” He didn’t reply. A spokesperson stated after the occasion that he didn’t have further remark.
Trump for years has sowed doubt about mail and early voting by claiming it was rife with fraud, although voter fraud is uncommon in america. This yr, Republicans are making a renewed push to encourage their supporters to vote early and lock of their ballots, although they acknowledge skepticism from these conditioned by Trump’s false claims.
John and Linda Chicken, a pair who attended the occasion, stated that they had considerations concerning the integrity of the voting system and anxious about voting early.
John Chicken stated he deliberate to vote on Election Day. Linda pointed to an indication given out on the occasion that stated Trump known as for early voting and anxious about the potential for not attending to the polls on Nov. 5.
Nonetheless, she stated she’d forged her poll on Election Day, too.
“Anything can happen, you know, you wake up that morning, some catastrophe happens or whatever,” she stated. “But, you know, we’re planning on voting on Nov. 5.”
One of many questioners requested about fraud in elections — one thing Trump has falsely insisted value him the 2020 race. An Related Press overview of each potential case of voter fraud within the six battleground states disputed by Trump discovered fewer than 475, a quantity that may have made no distinction within the final result.
Musk stated sarcastically that it should be a coincidence that Dominion voting machines, which had been on the heart of conspiracy theories within the 2020 election, had been utilized in Philadelphia and Maricopa County, Arizona, positioned in two battleground states gained by Democrat Joe Biden. In 2023, Fox Information agreed to pay Dominion Voting Methods $787 million to keep away from a trial in a defamation lawsuit the voting machine firm introduced in opposition to the community for lies informed about their firm switching ballots.
In an emailed assertion Thursday, Dominion stated its machines are usually not utilized in Philadelphia, as Musk stated. The assertion additionally stated its techniques are based mostly on “verified paper ballots.”
“These are not matters of opinion. They are verifiable facts.” Dominion stated.
Musk has develop into a serious booster of Trump this marketing campaign season. On Thursday night, he forged the election in dire phrases.
“I haven’t been politically active before. I’m politically active now because I think the future of America and the future of civilization is at stake,” he stated.
Individuals had been lined as much as attend earlier than 3 p.m. as faculty was letting out. Just a few folks started to depart early when it grew to become clear that not everybody who had lined as much as ask a query would have an opportunity to ask one.
The occasion was livestreamed on X, previously Twitter, and was at instances glitchy and troublesome to comply with, even because it drew a whole bunch of hundreds of viewers.
Musk is endeavor a lot of the get-out-the-vote effort for Trump by means of his America PAC, a brilliant PAC that may elevate and spend limitless sums of cash. He has dedicated greater than $70 million to the tremendous PAC to assist Trump and different Republicans win in November.
Trump and the Republican Nationwide Committee he controls opted for an unorthodox technique of sharing canvassing duties in key areas with teams like Musk’s. They’ve additionally targeted their efforts not on unbiased or reasonable voters, however on those that already assist Trump however normally don’t vote.
Republican activists in swing states stated in September that that they had seen little exercise from the PAC’s get-out-the-vote efforts.
