Tesla CEO and
Rachel Wisniewski | Reuters
Elon Musk said on Saturday that he will randomly give away $1 million a day to registered voters who sign a petition to a pro-Trump political action committee in an effort to get his fans in swing states to the polls.
Speaking at an America PAC event in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Musk said: “I have a surprise for you,” adding that the prize money is available “every day from now until the election.”
Musk then called a man named John Dreher, who he said was one of the petition signers in attendance, and handed him a huge check.
“I think it's kind of fun to think about, and you know, it seems like it's a good use of money basically,” he said. Tesla The CEO, whose fortune is approximately $250 billion.
Musk, who is also CEO of defense contractor SpaceX and owner of the social media platform X, embarked on a speaking tour in Pennsylvania to push voter registration in his support of the Republican nominee. He described the state as the “backbone” in these elections.
“I think the way Pennsylvania is going is the way the election is going,” Musk said.
The deadline to sign the petition is Monday night, the day voter registration closes in Pennsylvania. For signers to be eligible for the payments, “they must be registered voters in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, or Wisconsin,” the petition, posted on America PAC’s website, said.
Rick Hasen, a law professor at UCLA and an NBC News election law analyst, said in a blog post that Musk's initiative appears to be a violation of federal election laws, specifically the law that says a person “pays, offers to pay, or accepts payment for either “Registering to vote or voting will be fined no more than $10,000 or imprisoned for no more than five years, or both.”
“Some things in this country can be sold, and some things we have decided are not for sale,” Hasen said in an interview with CNBC. “Congress has decided that you should not be able to sell your vote to the highest bidder, and we should not allow the political process to be distorted by people with greater wealth who might try to persuade you to vote a certain way.”
CNBC reached out to Musk and one of his advisors for comment, but they did not respond.
Floating conspiracy theories
At pro-Trump events, Musk has promoted debunked voter fraud conspiracies, called for deregulation, and repeatedly described President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump's rival, as replaceable “puppets.”
“Nobody bothers trying to kill Kamala, you know, because there's no point,” Musk said on Saturday, repeating a phrase he's used in the past that caught the attention of the Secret Service. “I'm not suggesting that someone should try to kill her, that would be pointless, but I'm just saying. I'm just making an observation.”
Musk has said in his appearances that he finds many government agencies and regulations in the United States to be ineffective and unnecessary. Trump embraced an idea floated by Musk to create a government efficiency commission, and said the tech mogul would be a big part of the commission.
“We shouldn't really trust the government. We shouldn't,” Musk Harrisburg said. “Even if you are in the government, do not trust the government.”
While Musk's companies have long relied on government spending and support, he has rebuked the Federal Communications Commission, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for fisheries for obstructing SpaceX.
“We've gotten crazy stuff, like SpaceX being fined $140,000 for dumping potable water on the ground at Starbase,” Musk said.
As CNBC previously reported, SpaceX repeatedly discharged hot and industrial wastewater into wetlands surrounding the company's launch pad in Boca Chica, Texas, which the EPA found to be a violation of the Clean Water Act.
A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket sits with the Clipper spacecraft on Launch Pad 39A before launch at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on October 14, 2024.
Chandan Khanna | AFP | Getty Images
Musk mocked NOAA's Department of Fisheries for asking SpaceX to conduct a study to predict how its rockets would affect sharks and whales if they fell into the ocean.
“I think it's a big ocean, you know, there's a lot of sharks,” Musk said. “It's not impossible, but it's very unlikely.” The agency's mission is “to conserve America's coastal and marine resources.”
Musk's hostility toward President Biden increased in 2021, when the White House declined Tesla's invitation to attend an electric car summit.
“You know, Tesla's population is about 140,000 people — it's like there's a lot of blood, sweat and tears from people working hard to make great electric cars,” Musk said on Saturday. “Being picked up like that for no reason. It's like, what's going on?”
Musk has long fought unions, and Tesla was accused of union busting ahead of an electric vehicle summit. Biden has maintained a pro-labor platform throughout his presidency.
An attendee in Harrisburg asked Musk if he thought self-driving cars should eventually be mandatory if they could perform more safely in traffic than human drivers. Tesla has promised customers a “robot taxi” for years, but has never produced one.
Musk indicated he was against anything federally mandated.
“We should just get the government out of things and let the market figure it out,” he said. “I am generally against the government. With that I would like to thank you all for coming. It has been an honor to speak with you.”
Musk mentioned Trump only sparingly throughout the evening, and did not discuss his policies or record as president in any detail.
Watch: Elon Musk gives $75 million to the pro-Trump political party Action
