LANCASTER, Pa. — For two 1/2 hours, in a Marriott ballroom reworked right into a moody crimson, blue and black city corridor house, no query was off-limits for Elon Musk, the person who introduced the world Tesla and who needs to colonize Mars — and who’s newest challenge is bankrolling one of many greatest get-out-the-vote operations for Donald Trump in Pennsylvania.
And for two 1/2 hours on Saturday evening, Musk delivered a one-man present that was half Q&A from random viewers members, half stream of consciousness, and half self-styled stand-up routine.
“We will be illegal aliens on Mars,” mused Musk, the world’s richest man, speaking about house and his need for people to finally inhabit one other planet, moments after doing a starfish soar in black cowboy boots.
The SpaceX and Tesla founder was the headliner for the occasion placed on by his political motion committee, America PAC, which has sunk at the very least $75 million of Musk’s private fortune into electing Donald Trump in key swing states. The majority of Musk’s efforts seem like in Pennsylvania, the place Musk simply hosted his second city of the election cycle that featured ― regardless of a warning from the Division of Justice ― the newest installment of America PAC’s day by day million-dollar giveaway for individuals who signal his petition in assist of the Structure. (Musk argued this wasn’t an unlawful bribe to vote. “You don’t even have to vote. It would be nice if you voted, but you don’t have to,” Musk stated after handing a lady a big prop examine.)
The occasion was, in idea, about voting on this election for Donald Trump. After subjecting the viewers to 45 minutes of school soccer on jumbo screens, Musk lastly hopped, actually, onstage and inspired folks to vote in any manner attainable, together with early in-person and by way of absentee poll.
However largely, this was a car for Musk ― who can’t run for president himself as a foreign-born naturalized citizen ― to be the focal point and a significant participant in American politics, particularly with each he and Trump suggesting Musk could have a job in a Trump White Home that might straight affect coverage for his tech firms.
“Listen, I love America,” stated Musk, a local of apartheid South Africa. “And some of you will say, ‘Look, that’s just jingoistic propaganda.’ I don’t care. I love jingoistic propaganda. It’s awesome.”
Vice President Kamala Harris has no scarcity of celebrities in her nook — Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, Bruce Springsteen, Eminem. The checklist actually does go on and on. In the meantime, Donald Trump has, by way of family names that may get you to the polls, Hulk Hogan, Child Rock and Elon Musk.
However in contrast to Hogan or Beyoncé, Musk has really taken on the function of marketing campaign surrogate and monetary benefactor, spending greater than $130 million to assist Trump and the GOP on this election cycle. Musk additionally controls one of many world’s greatest social media websites that occurs to be a significant provider of election disinformation benefitting Trump.
That’s made Musk a straightforward goal for Democrats, together with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who has known as Musk Trump’s “running mate” and says he’s making an attempt to purchase Trump the election whereas “skipping like a dipshit” onstage with him. Musk is usually now the picture utilized in TV advertisements when Democrats need to invoke billionaires receiving undeserved tax cuts.
Matt Rourke by way of Related Press
The critiques of Musk don’t land nicely with all Democrats, particularly these with ties to a tech world that regards Musk as visionary. “Democrats need to show Americans that we are still the party of innovation. Part of that means acknowledging the accomplishments of people like Elon Musk with SpaceX, Tesla and Starlink, even while disagreeing with his stances,” Rep. Ro Khanna, the Democrat representing Silicon Valley, wrote in a press release to HuffPost.
There’s no query that Musk can draw a crowd in a manner that, say, billionaire mega-donor Charles Koch of the right-wing Koch Brothers couldn’t. After standing in a line that wrapped round a metropolis block, greater than 1,500 folks maxed out an occasion house to see Musk take unscripted questions starting from whether or not Jesus Christ was an actual particular person to Musk’s favourite methods for arm wrestling. The solutions have been each illuminating by way of what Musk could search to get out of a second Trump time period — and weird.
Musk recommended a number of instances there must be “quite radical” cuts of presidency prices and spending, and a major loosening of laws. “If we get rid of regulations we need, we’ll put them back,” Musk stated, dismissively.
He additionally downplayed the Jan. 6 riot on the Capitol (a query that got here from a younger voter who acquired booed by the viewers when he requested concerning the democratic “backsliding” underneath a second Trump time period), which led Musk to argue the day was neither “violent” nor an “insurrection.” He questioned voting “irregularities” within the 2020 election that Biden “won-ish.” Musk additionally stated “those who say Trump is a threat to democracy are themselves the threat to democracy.”
At different factors, Musk provided his ideas on whether or not aliens at the moment dwell amongst us (“maybe … but I haven’t seen it”), the ubiquity of prescribed drugs (“some drugs are pretty sketch”), his favourite baseball crew (New York Yankees, as a result of he likes the title), and the most effective recommendation he’s gotten or may give (“aspire to be less wrong”). The gang ate it up — for at the very least the primary two hours.
Regardless of its implied goal of encouraging voting, most of the individuals who preregistered to attend Musk’s city corridor appeared to have both already voted for Trump on this election or plan to subsequent Tuesday. And so they’d be voting for Trump whether or not or not Musk had requested them to signal a petition or verify their registration standing — the barrier to entry for registering for the occasion.
“[Musk] comes with a lot of ideas that are good, so I’d like to hear what his ideas are,” stated Jan Caccamo, a retired 66-year-old who had already voted for Trump however was curious to listen to what Musk needed to say.
“I just got really aware when he endorsed Trump. That was really a huge deal for me,” stated Janelle Kennedy, 40, who requested Musk whether or not he backs Trump’s proposal to mandate that insurance coverage firms and the federal government pay for in vitro fertilization. Musk, a proponent of accelerating the start fee, stated sure.
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Musk has a manner of utilizing round logic to make his factors, or saying unremarkable issues in a manner his viewers finds profound. “If masculinity is so toxic, how come the kids who are messed up don’t have dads?” Musk stated, prompting a spherical of applause. Moments later, Musk noticed that “common sense bounces off the government like water off a duck’s back.”
“I’m just curious,” Musk defined in response to a query scratching at what motivates him, “and I want to understand the nature of reality.”
Musk additionally appeared delighted to have dreamed up “a kind of crazy idea” on the fly for managing immigration on the Southern border, which was that the fast-food chain Chick-fil-A, due to its popularity for customer support, must be put answerable for immigration.
“They are so efficient … they just get it done,” Musk stated ― and the viewers roared.
