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

LANCASTER, Pa. -- Tech mogul Elon Musk, speaking astatine a municipality hallway Saturday nighttime successful Pennsylvania to support Republican Donald Trump, played down nan Jan. 6 attack connected nan U.S. Capitol and exhorted supporters to formed votes early successful nan statesmanlike plaything authorities while describing message ballots arsenic a “recipe for fraud."

The freewheeling convention wrong a ballroom astatine a edifice successful downtown Lancaster touched connected a dizzying scope of topics, from abstraction exploration and nan Tesla cybertruck to migration and nan efficacy of psychiatric drugs. The municipality hallway was portion of Musk's efforts done his ace PAC to thief boost Trump successful plaything states up of nan Nov. 5 statesmanlike predetermination against Democrat Kamala Harris.

Musk, whom Trump has vowed to springiness a domiciled successful his management if he wins adjacent month, spent astir 2 hours taking questions from municipality hallway participants. While astir were laudatory and covered a assortment of topics, 1 was peculiarly pointed: A man wanted to cognize what Musk would opportunity to concerns from voters that Trump’s predetermination could lead to populist backsliding successful nan U.S. considering his domiciled successful nan Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection.

While calling it a adjacent question, Musk besides said that nan Jan. 6 onslaught by Trump’s supporters has been called “some benignant of convulsive insurrection, which is simply not nan case" — a consequence that drew applause from nan crowd. More than 100 rule enforcement unit were injured successful nan attack, immoderate beaten pinch their ain weapons, erstwhile a mob of Trump supporters who believed his lies that nan 2020 predetermination was stolen from him stormed nan Capitol to extremity nan certification of votes.

Musk besides claimed that group “who opportunity Trump is simply a threat to populist are themselves a threat to democracy,” a remark that was besides shouted by nan crowd of respective 100 group packed tightly into nan ballroom. Many much watched nan arena connected X, nan societal media level Musk purchased 2 years ago.

Trump, he said, “did really show group to not beryllium violent." While Trump did show nan crowd connected Jan. 6 to protestation “peacefully and patriotically,” he besides encouraged them to “fight for illustration hell” to extremity Democrat Joe Biden from becoming nan president.

Musk, nan world’s richest man, has committed much than $70 million to boost Trump successful nan predetermination and, astatine events connected behalf of his ace PAC, has encouraged supporters to clasp voting early. Still, echoing immoderate of Trump’s misgivings astir nan method, Musk raised his ain doubts astir nan process. He said that, successful nan future, message ballots should not beryllium accepted, calling them a unusual anomaly that sewage popularized during nan COVID-19 pandemic and raising nan imaginable of fraud.

There are a number of safeguards to protect mail-in ballots, pinch various ballot verification protocols, including each authorities requiring a voter’s signature.

The mobility astir Jan. 6 was an outlier during nan back-and-forth pinch nan crowd successful which Musk was many times praised arsenic a visionary and solicited for proposal and thoughts astir education, limb wrestling, taxation loopholes and whether he'd bargain nan Chicago White Sox. (He said he was a tech feline and had to prime his battles.)

Musk said he was successful favour of “not dense handed” regularisation of artificial intelligence and railed against “woke religion” arsenic “fundamentally an extinctionist religion.” He said nan U.S. commencement complaint is simply a important concern.

He said he believes Jesus was a existent personification who lived astir 2,000 years agone and, erstwhile asked for nan champion proposal he's ever received, replied: “I urge studying physics.”

He besides called a female to nan shape to springiness her a ample $1 cardinal check, portion of his promotion to springiness distant $1 cardinal a time to a elector successful a plaything authorities who has signed his ace PAC's petition backing nan U.S. Constitution.

The giveaways are good pinch Josh Fox, 32, a UPS driver from Dillsburg, Pennsylvania.

“That’s cool,” Fox said, waiting to get into nan rally earlier Saturday. “It would beryllium bully to person it.”

Fox, who plans to ballot for Trump, dismissed immoderate proposal nan money whitethorn break federal predetermination rules.

“It’s astir driving successful support and driving successful group who are successful support of nan Constitution,” Fox said.