Billionaire tech govt Elon Musk forged the upcoming presidential election in dire phrases throughout an look with Donald Trump, calling the Republican presidential nominee the one candidate “to protect democracy in America.”
The CEO of SpaceX and Tesla who additionally bought X, Musk joined Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday on the web site the place the previous president survived an assassination try in July. Musk stated “this would be the final election” if Trump doesn’t win. Sporting a cap with the “Make America Nice Once more” slogan of Trump’s marketing campaign, Musk appeared to acknowledge the foreboding nature of his remarks.
“As you’ll be able to see I’m not simply MAGA — I’m Darkish MAGA,” he stated.
It was the primary time that Musk joined certainly one of Trump’s rallies and was proof of their rising alliance within the ultimate stretch of the presidential election. Musk created a brilliant political motion committee supporting the Republican nominee and it has been spending closely on get-out-the-vote efforts. Trump has stated he would faucet Musk to guide a authorities effectivity fee if he regains the White Home.
Trump joined Musk in August for a uncommon public dialog on X, a pleasant chat that spanned greater than two hours. In it, the previous president largely targeted on the July assassination try, unlawful immigration and his plans to chop authorities rules.
Earlier than a big crowd Saturday, Musk sought to painting Trump as a champion of free speech, arguing that Democrats need “to remove your freedom of speech, they wish to take away your proper to bear arms, they wish to take away your proper to vote, successfully.” Musk went on to criticize a California effort to ban voter ID necessities.
The occasion passed off on the identical property the place a gunman’s bullets grazed Trump’s proper ear and killed a Trump supporter, Corey Comperatore. The taking pictures left a number of others injured.
A number of members of Comperatore’s household, in addition to different attendees and first responders from the July rally, returned to the positioning on Saturday. Additionally showing with the previous president had been his operating mate Republican Ohio Sen. JD Vance, son Eric Trump, daughter-in-law and RNC co-chair Lara Trump, together with Pennsylvania lawmakers and sheriffs.
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Kinnard reported from Chapin, South Carolina, and could be reached at http://x.com/MegKinnardAP
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The story has been corrected to replicate that Elon Musk stated Democrats “wish to take away your proper to vote, successfully,” not “combat to vote, successfully.”