Elon Musk says the real threat to democracy is the people who accuse Trump of endangering it

LANCASTER, Pa. — Tech mogul Elon Musk, talking at a city corridor Saturday evening in Pennsylvania to help Republican Donald Trump, performed down the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol and exhorted supporters to forged votes early within the presidential swing state whereas describing mail ballots as a “recipe for fraud.”

The freewheeling session inside a ballroom at a lodge in downtown Lancaster touched on a dizzying vary of subjects, from house exploration and the Tesla cybertruck to immigration and the efficacy of psychiatric medication. The city corridor was a part of Musk’s efforts by means of his tremendous PAC to assist enhance Trump in swing states forward of the Nov. 5 presidential election towards Democrat Kamala Harris.

Musk, whom Trump has vowed to present a job in his administration if he wins subsequent month, spent almost two hours taking questions from city corridor members. Whereas most had been laudatory and lined quite a lot of subjects, one was notably pointed: A person needed to know what Musk would say to issues from voters that Trump’s election might result in democracy backsliding within the U.S. contemplating his position within the Jan. 6, 2021, rebel.

Whereas calling it a good query, Musk additionally mentioned that the Jan. 6 assault by Trump’s supporters has been referred to as “some type of violent rebel, which is solely not the case” — a response that drew applause from the group. Greater than 100 regulation enforcement personnel had been injured within the assault, some beaten with their own weapons, when a mob of Trump supporters who believed his lies that the 2020 election was stolen from him stormed the Capitol to cease the certification of votes.

Musk additionally claimed that folks “who say Trump is a risk to democracy are themselves a risk to democracy,” a remark that was additionally cheered by the group of a number of hundred individuals packed tightly into the ballroom. Many extra watched the occasion on X, the social media platform Musk bought two years in the past.

Trump, he mentioned, “did really inform individuals to not be violent.” Whereas Trump did inform the group on Jan. 6 to protest “peacefully and patriotically,” he additionally encouraged them to “fight like hell” to cease Democrat Joe Biden from turning into the president.

Musk, the world’s richest man, has committed more than $70 million to spice up Trump within the election and, at occasions on behalf of his tremendous PAC, has inspired supporters to embrace voting early. Nonetheless, echoing a few of Trump’s misgivings in regards to the technique, Musk raised his personal doubts in regards to the course of. He mentioned that, sooner or later, mail ballots shouldn’t be accepted, calling them an odd anomaly that acquired popularized through the COVID-19 pandemic and elevating the prospect of fraud.

There are a number of safeguards to guard mail-in ballots, with numerous poll verification protocols, together with each state requiring a voter’s signature.

The query about Jan. 6 was an outlier through the back-and-forth with the group wherein Musk was repeatedly praised as a visionary and solicited for recommendation and ideas about schooling, arm wrestling, tax loopholes and whether or not he’d purchase the Chicago White Sox. (He mentioned he was a tech man and needed to decide his battles.)

Musk mentioned he was in favor of “not heavy handed” regulation of synthetic intelligence and railed towards “woke faith” as “essentially an extinctionist faith.” He mentioned the U.S. delivery charge is a big concern.

He mentioned he believes Jesus was an actual one who lived about 2,000 years in the past and, when requested for one of the best recommendation he is ever acquired, replied: “I like to recommend learning physics.”

He additionally referred to as a girl to the stage to present her a big $1 million test, a part of his promotion to present away $1 million a day to a voter in a swing state who has signed his tremendous PAC’s petition backing the U.S. Structure.

The giveaways are advantageous with Josh Fox, 32, a UPS driver from Dillsburg, Pennsylvania.

“That’s cool,” Fox mentioned, ready to get into the rally earlier Saturday. “It might be good to have it.”

Fox, who plans to vote for Trump, dismissed any suggestion the cash might violate federal election rules.

“It’s about driving in help and driving in people who find themselves in help of the Structure,” Fox mentioned.