Elon Musk, South Africa born Forbes certified World Richest man, who is a citizen of United States, US by registration is no doubt one of the major centres of discussion in the forthcoming USA presidential election which during the weekend, he reiterated his pledge of daily giveaway of $1 million to randomly selected voters who sign a petition to support the constitution launched by his pro-Donald Trump America Political Action Committee, PAC.
The 53 year old native of Pretoria in South Africa who relocated to Canada in the North America continent in 1988 before becoming USA citizen in 2002, said and reiterated on Monday in a tweet on his X social media platform that the forthcoming presidential election in the US is the “most important election in our lifetime”.
During the weekend at Pennsylvania, Elon Musk who obtained both Bachelor of Arts and Science Degrees from the University of Pennsylvania, said he hates politics, he’s not a politician, he’s a technologist but he’s sorry that he needed to take a stand in this year 2024 US Presidential election.
He stated and in quote: “We have an issue of apathy. Some people think their vote doesn’t count and for whatever reason they have not registered to vote. Its important to get out there and explain the importance of this election and how democracy is on the line. This is the most important election in your lifetime. If there’s any election where you ever vote, it should be this one.
I hate politics. I don’t want to be in politics. I’m a technologist. I build rockets and cars. I derive joy from seeing people enjoy the products that my companies make. But the stakes are so high that I had no choice but to take a stand.”
Elon Musk had in an interview with Jordan Peterson in July 2024, said America needs a strong leader, referring to Donald Trump.
“America needs a strong leader, where you have the perception of strength.
You have to admire that Trump, after getting shot, with blood streaming down his face – it could have been a second shooter, who knows – nonetheless, with fist pumping ‘Fight! Fight!’, after being shot, I mean, he’s brave, he has courage.
This is instinctual courage. It’s not calculated. It’s not some arranged event. You see true courage in the moment.
And you want a leader who’s going to deal with some very, very tough cookies out there, who’s going to deal with a Putin or Kim Jong Un or China. They will think twice about messing with Trump.
They’ll think twice. I think they will be intimidated by a guy who was fist pumping after getting shot.”
Meanwhile, Elon Musk came under scrutiny after he had pledged to award $1 million every day until election day in the United States on November 5 to randomly selected registered voters who sign a petition to support the constitution launched by his pro-Donald Trump America Political Action Committee (PAC).
Musk announced the giveaway on Saturday at an America PAC-hosted rally in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
Many are seeing monetary action of Elon Musk during the election processes as a calculated attempt to use monetary influence to win voters support for Donald Trump just as legal experts are scrutinizing the scheme as well as Pennsylvania’s Democratic governor, Josh Shapiro, who on Sunday asked law enforcement agents to launch an investigation into potential election interference with Elon Musk daily giveaway programme.
Tesla CEO and X owner Elon Musk, who supports Donald Trump, appears on stage during an America PAC town hall in Folsom, Pennsylvania, on October 17, 2024 explaining his stand in this year US election, reiterating that from October 17 to November 5, he will give $1 million to a randomly selected winner each day if: He or she is a registered voter. He or she is from one of the following swing states: Pennsylvania, Georgia, Nevada, Arizona, Michigan, Wisconsin or North Carolina.
He or she has signed an online petition created by America PAC.
Musk, is the founder and the CEO of the electric car company Tesla and rocket producer SpaceX and owns the social media network X. He has a net worth of $274.4 billion, according to Forbes real-time billionaires listing.
According to Al-Jazeera, “Musk has repeatedly called the petition one that “upholds the US Constitution”. More precisely, the petition on a webpage belonging to the America PAC website, says: “The First and Second Amendments guarantee freedom of speech and the right to bear arms. By signing below, I am pledging my support for the First and Second Amendments.”
The webpage states, “Earn 1,000,000” in big, bold letters, flanked by two money bag emojis. Individuals who sign are supposed to enter their first name, last name, email address and cellphone number.
Next to the cellphone number field in the form, a note says the number is required only to confirm that the petition signee is a legitimate voter and “no other purpose”.
“Our goal is to get 1 million registered voters in swing states to sign in support of the constitution,” the website added.
On Friday, the day before the giveaway announcement, the Reuters news agency reported that Alysia McMillan, who canvassed for America PAC in Wisconsin, said field organisers had reported they were missing their daily goals in terms of enlisting voters and were expecting to fall short of their ultimate goal of contacting 450,000 voters by election day.
In Pennsylvania, each registered voter who signs the petition will automatically receive $100 as compensation, and an additional $100 is paid for each person who signs upon their referral. In other swing states, individuals will get $47 per successful referral.
The date the petition was created and the number of signatures amassed so far were not visible on the America PAC webpage.
PACs raise and spend money to advocate for or against a candidate in an election. Musk formed America PAC in May to support former President Trump’s election bid this year. On October 16, it was reported that Musk had poured $75 million over three months into America PAC”, Al-Jazeera stated.
For years, according to close watchers, Elon Musk has always voted for Democratic Party candidates in previously held US elections.