Elon Musk holds his first solo event in support of Trump in the Philadelphia suburbs
FOLSOM, Pa. — FOLSOM, Pa. (AP) — Elon Musk held his first solo event in support of Donald Trump for president on Thursday, encouraging voters in suburban Philadelphia to register to cast their ballots and vote early, though some attendees shouted back, “Why?”
At the America PAC event in the Ridley High School auditorium in Folsom, the world’s richest man spoke on stage in front of a large American flag for about 15 minutes before taking questions from the audience, many of whom shouted a “Make America Great Again” wore a hat.
The event was billed as a call to action for early voting in the crucial state of Pennsylvania, where Trump and Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris are fiercely contesting the election. Some in the crowd questioned Musk’s pleas for early voting, reflecting the possibility that Republicans are still out there convince their supporters to embrace early voting after Trump spent years demonizing the method.
The crowd stood up and took cellphone videos as Musk, the billionaire founder of Tesla and Space X and owner of the social media platform X, walked onto the stage. They stood during his remarks and cheered loudly after he said the U.S. Constitution must be upheld.
“These are literally the foundational values that made America what it is today. And anyone who is against these things is fundamentally anti-American and damn it,” said Musk, who was born in South Africa. The crowd erupted.
He urged the crowd to make sure they and their friends and family were registered to vote and to “harass” those who were not. Near the end of the question period, which included well over a dozen attendees, he was asked to explain whether people in Pennsylvania should vote early. Musk was momentarily distracted by a fan waving a hat, which he appeared to be signing, and then by a child he brought on stage for a photo.
Referring to the question, he said people should vote immediately.
Some in the crowd cupped their hands and shouted, “Why?” He didn’t answer. A spokesperson said afterwards that he had no further comment.
Trump has had that for years sowed doubt about mail and early voting by alleging fraud Voter fraud is rare in the United States. This year the Republicans are making gains a renewed impetus to encourage their supporters to vote early and secure their ballots, while acknowledging the skepticism of those conditioned by Trump’s false claims.
John and Linda Bird, a couple who attended the event, said they were concerned about the integrity of the voting system and concerned about early voting.
John Bird said he planned to vote on Election Day. Linda pointed to a sign put out at the event that showed Trump calling for early voting and expressing concern about the possibility of not going to the polls on November 5.
Still, she said she would also cast her vote on Election Day.
“Anything can happen, you know, when you wake up that morning, a catastrophe or whatever happens,” she said. “But you know, we plan to vote on November 5.”
One of the questioners asked about election fraud – something Trump wrongly insisted on it cost him the 2020 race. An Associated Press review of every possible case of voter fraud in the six battleground states contested by Trump, there were fewer than 475, a number that would have made no difference in the outcome.
Musk sarcastically said it must be a coincidence that Dominion voting machines, which were at the center of conspiracy theories in the 2020 election, were used in Pennsylvania and Arizona, two battleground states won by Democrat Joe Biden. In 2023, Fox News agreed to pay Dominion Voting Systems $787 million to avoid a lawsuit in a defamation case the voting machine company brought against the network over lies about their company’s ballot switching.
Musk has become an important booster of Trump this campaign season. On Thursday evening he pronounced the election in dire terms.
“I have never been politically active before. “I’m politically active now because I think the future of America and the future of civilization are at stake,” he said.
People were lining up before 3pm because school let out. A few people started leaving early when it became clear that not everyone who lined up to ask a question would get the chance to ask one.
The event was streamed live on X, formerly Twitter, and was at times glitchy and difficult to follow, even though it attracted hundreds of thousands of viewers.
Much of Musk’s effort to vote for Trump is through his America PAC, a super PAC that can raise and spend unlimited amounts of money. He has pledged more than $70 million to the super PAC to help Trump and other Republicans win in November.
Trump and the Republican National Committee he controls adopted an unorthodox strategy of sharing recruiting duties in key regions with groups like Musk’s. They have also focused their efforts not on independent or moderate voters, but on those who already support Trump but usually don’t vote.
Republican activists in swing states said in September that they had seen little activity from the PAC’s get-out-the-vote efforts.
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Associated Press writer Stephen Groves in Washington contributed to this report.