Tech billionaire Elon Musk stated Friday that each one voting must be “in particular person,” contradicting his personal historical past of voting by mail and the efforts of his pro-Trump tremendous PAC to get others to vote by mail, too.
During a wide-ranging city corridor occasion in Oaks, Pennsylvania, the place Musk is campaigning for former President Donald Trump, Musk stated he was involved about potential voter fraud until folks solid ballots in a selected manner: on paper, in particular person and with a type of identification.
“In my opinion, we should always have paper ballots solely. It must be in-person voting with ID. End of story,” Musk stated, in accordance with a livestream of the occasion.
The viewers cheered and applauded Musk’s reply, which got here after he promoted a debunked conspiracy concept associated to the voting machine firm Dominion Voting Systems at a Thursday city corridor occasion. Musk stated Thursday that Dominion was a part of a plot to rig elections, an allegation the corporate disputed and that’s just like one which the corporate has sued others over.
Voting by mail or absentee poll has change into commonplace in some jurisdictions, and there’s no proof of widespread voter fraud within the United States, both by mail or different means.
Musk, considered one of the world’s wealthiest folks and the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, voted by mail within the 2016 and 2018 common elections, in accordance with California state data of his voting historical past obtained by NBC News in August.
His tremendous PAC, America PAC, can also be selling mail-in and absentee ballots this 12 months. In mailers and on a web site that hyperlinks to absentee poll request types, the tremendous PAC calls absentee voting a safe manner for folks to assist Trump within the Nov. 5 election. Musk has given the tremendous PAC almost $75 million.
But Musk’s opposition to mail-in and absentee voting is longstanding, and he has repeatedly declined to resolve his said opposition along with his personal follow. In an electronic mail to NBC News in August, he stood by his opposition and wrote: “Voting by mail has been acknowledged as an invite to fraud all through the world.”
A spokesperson for America PAC didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark after Friday’s city corridor occasion.
Musk introduced up the subject of in-person voting in response to an viewers member’s query about “cease the steal,” a reference to Trump’s false claims that he received the 2020 election. The viewers member, who didn’t give his title, stated with out proof that he believed votes in Georgia this 12 months had been already being “flipped” and he requested for Musk’s assist.
“Is there a approach to have a database on X the place we will observe all of the votes? We all ship our votes to you to trace it, after which we will inform who wins?” he requested.
Musk responded that individuals who have doable proof of voter fraud or irregularities ought to publish it to his social media app X for others to both assist or debunk.
Musk, standing on a stage with an American flag behind him, answered questions from viewers members for almost two hours. The query subjects various extensively, from enterprise recommendation and video video games to nationwide beginning charges and the ability of enormous tech firms.
It was the second city corridor occasion in Pennsylvania in as many days for Musk, and he has at the very least two others deliberate within the battleground state, together with one Saturday evening in Harrisburg, in accordance with the web site of his tremendous PAC.
Musk repeated a number of false conspiracy theories which have change into frequent speaking factors for him on social media, together with the unfounded concept that Democrats are bringing immigrants missing everlasting authorized standing into swing states in an effort to solid ballots. He alleged with out foundation that California doesn’t have “any significant elections,” and he stated that X had not suspended “a single account on the left,” though final month X suspended a journalist after he printed a doc that gave the impression to be stolen from Trump’s marketing campaign by hackers tied to Iran.
One viewers member requested Musk if he, as a possible future adviser in a second Trump time period, would contemplate hiring Scott Presler, a conservative activist who has helped unfold numerous conspiracy theories together with about QAnon.
“Absolutely, sure,” Musk responded.
At one other level, Musk appeared to make a joke in regards to the assault on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 — on the expense of presidency employees. An viewers member requested Musk why nobody had been charged in reference to two pipe bombs left close to the Capitol the day earlier than the assault.
“Well, perhaps he’s a federal worker,” Musk stated, earlier than bursting out in laughter. Some viewers members laughed, too.
The FBI stated earlier this 12 months that a $500,000 reward remained in impact for data resulting in the arrest of whoever positioned the pipe bombs.