Billionaire tech entrepreneur Elon Musk made a dramatic prediction about the upcoming presidential election during a Saturday appearance with Donald Trump, claiming that the Republican candidate is the only one who could “preserve democracy in America.”
Musk, the CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, who also bought X, joined Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, where the former president survived an assassination attempt in July. Wearing a black cap with the Trump campaign’s “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) slogan, a color that seemed to reflect the somber tone of his statements, he warned that “these will be the last.” elections” if Trump does not win.
“As you can see, I’m not just MAGA, I’m the dark MAGA,” he said.
The appearance marked Musk’s first appearance at one of Trump’s signature rallies and represented the growing alliance between the two men in the final stretch of a close election race. Musk created a huge political action committee (PAC) to support the Republican candidate who has been spending heavily on get-out-the-vote campaigns in the final months of the campaign. Trump has said that if he returns to the White House, he will ask Musk to lead a government efficiency commission.
Trump met with Musk in August for a rare public conversation about X, an overwhelmingly friendly chat that lasted more than two hours. In it, the former president focused heavily on the July assassination attempt, unauthorized immigration and his plans to cut government regulations.
Before a crowd on Saturday, Musk tried to portray Trump as a defender of free speech, arguing that Democrats want to “take away your freedom of speech, they want to take away your right to bear arms, they want to, effectively, take away your right to vote.” ”. Musk also criticized attempts in California to ban measures requiring voters to carry ID cards.
Saturday’s campaign rally took place on the same property where a sniper opened fire, grazing Trump’s right ear and killing one of his supporters, Corey Comperatore. Several people were injured in the shooting.
Several members of Comperatore’s family, as well as other supporters and first responders who were at the July rally, returned to the scene Saturday. Also appearing with the former president were his running mate, Ohio Republican Senator JD Vance, his son, Eric Trump, his daughter-in-law and co-chair of the Republican National Committee, Lara Trump, along with legislators and police chiefs from Pennsylvania.
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Kinnard reported from Chapin, South Carolina, and can be reached at
