Elon Musk will sit next to Trump on election night – giving Republican access to owner of X and its hundreds of millions of users
Elon Musk will join Donald Trump for his election night party at Mar-a-Lago, continuing his aggressive campaign for the Republican nominee.
The billionaire entrepreneur and owner of social media platform
He announced his support for the former president earlier this year after the July 13 assassination attempt in Pennsylvania, despite saying in 2022 that “it’s time for Trump to hang up his hat and sail off into the sunset.”
Under Musk’s ownership, and with his decision to support Trump, many are concerned that he could use X and his influence on the platform to tip the balance in favor of the Republicans.
Musk, whose tweets reportedly get special attention from his more than 200 million followers and the site’s half-billion monthly users, regularly posts about his support for the former president.
Elon Musk will join Donald Trump at his election night party at Mar-a-Lago and continue his aggressive campaign for the Republican nominee
He announced his support for the former president earlier this year after the July 13 assassination attempt in Pennsylvania, despite saying in 2022 that “it’s time for Trump to hang up his hat and sail into the sunset.”
An exterior view of the swimming pool at ‘Mar a Lago’ owned by businessman Donald Trump circa 2000 in Palm Beach, Florida
On stage, he has claimed, without evidence, that Trump’s campaign is heading for a “landslide victory” over Harris.
X has also been heavily criticized for allowing the spread of disinformation on the platform, including false claims of election fraud by Democrats and bogus voting issues.
The Wall Street Journal alleged in October that
In yet another controversial move, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX pledged last month to give away $1 million a day to people in swing states until Election Day.
According to the America PAC website, 16 people, including four in Pennsylvania, received the $1 million prizes. The winners were reportedly chosen at random from those who signed a petition pledging support for free speech and gun rights.
The offer was limited to registered voters in one of the seven states likely to determine the outcome of the Nov. 5 election: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
SpaceX and Tesla founder Elon Musk presented Kristine Fishell with a $1 million check during the town hall at the Roxain Theater on October 20, 2024 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
The Justice Department warned Musk and his America PAC last month that the sweepstakes may violate federal law, which prohibits people from paying to register to vote.
He has also appeared on stage with Trump at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania and single-handedly hosted a series of town halls in the eastern state, seen as crucial in today’s election.
Larry Noble, former general counsel of the Federal Election Commission, told The Guardian: “When Musk bought Twitter and renamed it
‘It now appears that Musk is using his wealth and assets to reach hundreds of millions of followers with lies and debunked conspiracy theories about how elections are organized.
“Now that he has fully and openly embraced Trump, he has joined Trump and his other followers in spreading the claim that the only way Trump can lose the coming election is if there is widespread fraud. Of course, they are already claiming, without credible evidence, that election fraud is already taking place.”