Elon Musk said Saturday that he would randomly award $1 million a day to registered voters who sign a petition for his pro-Trump political motion committee to encourage his fans in swing states to vote.
At an America PAC event in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Musk said, “I have a surprise for you,” adding that the prize money could be available “every day from now until the election.”
Musk then called a person named John Dreher, who he said was one in all the petition signers present, and handed him an enormous check.
“I think it's kind of fun, and you know, basically it seems like a good use of the money,” he said Tesla CEO who’s price almost $250 billion.
Musk, who can also be CEO of defense company SpaceX and owner of the social media platform He called the state the “lynchpin” of this election.
“I think the way Pennsylvania is going is the way the elections are going,” Musk said.
The deadline to sign the petition is Monday evening, the day voter registration closes in Pennsylvania. The petition posted on the America PAC website states that to be eligible for payments, signatories “must be registered voters of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania or Wisconsin.”
Rick Hasen, a law professor at UCLA and election law analyst for NBC News, said in a blog post that Musk's initiative appears to be a violation of federal law Election lawsspecifically, one which states that an individual “pays, or offers to pay, or accepts payment, to register to vote.” or for voting shall be punished by a high-quality not exceeding $10,000 or by imprisonment not exceeding five years, or each.”
“Certain things in this country can be sold, and certain things we've decided shouldn't be for sale,” Hasen told CNBC in an interview. “Congress has decided that you shouldn't be able to sell your vote to the highest bidder, and we shouldn't allow the political process to be distorted by people with the most wealth who might try to get you to vote a certain way .”
CNBC reached out to Musk and one in all his advisers for comment, but they didn’t respond.
In an interview with NBC's “Meet the press” On Sunday, Democratic Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said Musk's plan to provide money to registered voters in his state was “deeply concerning” and “it's something law enforcement could look into.”
Floating conspiracy theories
At pro-Trump events, Musk pushed exposed election fraud conspiracies, called for deregulation and repeatedly referred to President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, Donald Trump's rival, as interchangeable “puppets.”
“Nobody even bothers to kill Kamala, you recognize, because there's no point,” Musk said Saturday, repeating a phrase he has used in the past that drew attention from him the secret service. “I'm not suggesting that anyone should try to kill her, it would be pointless, but I'm just saying. I’m just making an observation.”
Musk said during his appearances that he believes many government agencies and regulations in the United States are ineffective and unnecessary. Trump has seized on an idea floated by Musk to create a government efficiency commission, saying the tech tycoon will be a large part of the commission.
“We really shouldn’t trust the government. We just shouldn’t do it,” Musk told Harrisburg. “Even if I’m in the government, don’t trust the government.”
While Musk's companies have long relied on government spending and support, he lambasted the Federal Communications Commission, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries for holding back SpaceX.
“Crazy things happen to us,” Musk said, “for example, SpaceX was fined $140,000 for dumping drinking water on the ground at Starbase.”
As CNBC previously reported, SpaceX has repeatedly discharged hot industrial wastewater into the wetlands surrounding the company's launch pad in Boca Chica, Texas, which the EPA believes is a violation of the Clean Water Act.
Musk mocked NOAA Fisheries for asking SpaceX to conduct a study to predict how its rockets might affect sharks and whales if they fell into the sea.
“I think it's a big ocean, you know, there are a lot of sharks. It’s not impossible, but very unlikely,” Musk said. The Mission of the agency is to “protect America’s coastal and marine resources.”
Musk's hostility toward President Biden increased in 2021 when the White House declined to invite Tesla to an electric vehicle summit.
“You know, Tesla has about 140,000 people – it's like there's quite a lot of blood, sweat and tears of individuals working hard to construct great electric cars,” Musk said Saturday. “That you are picked on like that for no reason. It’s like, what’s going on?”
Musk has long fought unions, and Tesla was accused of union busting before the EV summit. Biden has maintained a pro-worker platform throughout his presidency.
An attendee in Harrisburg asked Musk if he thinks self-driving cars should eventually become mandatory, allowing them to navigate traffic more safely than human drivers. Tesla has promised customers a “robotaxi” for years but never produced one.
Musk indicated that he was against anything the federal government mandated.
“We should just get the government out of this and let the market figure it out,” he said. “I am generally against the government. So I would like to thank you all for coming. It was an honor to speak with you.”
Musk mentioned Trump sparingly throughout the evening and did not go into detail about his policies or his record as president.
REGARD: Elon Musk donates $75 million to pro-Trump PAC
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