Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, spoke to a packed town hall on Saturday in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, where he downplayed the importance of… January 6 riot at the US Capitol He suggested mail-in ballots were a “recipe for fraud.”
In response to a man who asked Musk about his message to young voters who worry that “voting for a second Trump presidency will lead to democratic backsliding,” Musk responded: “The media is trying to paint January 6th as some kind of violent insurrection.” “This is simply not the case,” he said, drawing applause from the audience. More than 100 law enforcement personnel were injured in the attack, some of whom were beaten with their own weapons, as they attacked a crowd of Trump supporters who believed his lies that… 2020 elections She stole from him the storming of the Capitol to stop the certification of votes.
Musk continued: “It is not as if the January 6 protests had no benefit, but rather they had some advantages.” “I don’t agree with the extent of what they did, but it appears there were no issues,” Musk said.
Musk claimed that people “who say Trump is a threat to democracy are themselves a threat to democracy,” a comment that was also met with applause from a crowd of several hundred people gathered in the hall. Many people watched the event on X, Musk’s social media platform Purchased 2 years ago.
He said Trump “actually asked people not to be violent.” while Trump He asked the crowd on January 6 to protest “peacefully and patriotically,” and also encouraged them to “Fight like hellTo prevent Democrat Joe Biden from becoming president.
Musk spent nearly two hours taking questions from town hall participants. The free-flowing session inside the ballroom of a hotel in downtown Lancaster touched on a dizzying array of topics, from space exploration and the Tesla e-truck to immigration and the effectiveness of psychiatric medications. The city council was part of Musk’s efforts through his political action committee to help boost Trump in swing states ahead of the Nov. 5 presidential election against Democrat Kamala Harris. Trump He said he would give Musk a role in his administration if he wins the presidency.
The City Hall audience largely praised Musk as a visionary, asking him for advice and thoughts on education, arm wrestling, tax loopholes and whether he would buy the Chicago White Sox. (He said he’s a technology guy and he has to pick his battles.) Trump won Lancaster County in both the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections, and won Pennsylvania in 2016 against Hillary Clinton but lost it in 2020 to Joe Biden.
Musk said he supports “soft” regulation of AI and criticized “woke religion” as “essentially extinct.” He said the birth rate in the United States is a major concern.
He said he believed Jesus was a real person who lived about 2,000 years ago, and when asked what was the best advice he had ever received, he replied: “I recommend studying physics.”
Musk, the world’s richest man, has committed more than $70 million to support Trump in the election, and at events on behalf of super PACs, he has encouraged supporters to embrace early voting. However, echoing some of Trump’s concerns about this method, Musk raised his doubts about the process. He described mail-in balloting as a “strange anomaly that has spread during Covid,” and went on to say of mail-in voting that “in effect, you have a clear recipe for fraud and an inability to prove fraud.”
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There are a number of safeguards for protection Mail-in ballotswith different ballot verification protocols, including each state requiring a voter’s signature.
He also invited City Hall participant Judy Camorra to the stage to give her a large check for $1 million, part of his promotion to Donate $1 million a day to a swing state voter who signs his or her political action committee’s petition supporting the U.S. Constitution.
Musk did not mention the Justice Department’s recent warning that his million-dollar contests could violate federal election law. He also did not comment on a Wall Street Journal report that the tech billionaire maintained regular contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Gifts are just fine with Josh Fox, 32, a UPS driver from Dillsburg, Pennsylvania.
“This is great,” Fox said, waiting to participate in the march earlier Saturday. “It would be nice to have that.”
Fox, who plans to vote for Trump, rejected any suggestion that the money might violate federal election rules.
“It’s about supportive leadership and mobilizing people who support the Constitution,” Fox said.
She contributed to this report.