Election 2024: Elon Musk makes first appearance at Trump rally in Pennsylvania

Billionaire technology manager Elon Musk addressed the upcoming presidential election in somber terms during an appearance with Donald Trumpcalling the Republican presidential candidate the only candidate “who can preserve democracy in America.”

The CEO of SpaceX and Tesla who also bought X, Musk joined Trump on Saturday in Butler, Pennsylvania, where the former president survived an assassination attempt in July. Musk said: “This will be the last election” if Trump doesn’t win. Wearing a cap with the “Make America Great Again” slogan from Trump’s campaign, Musk appeared to acknowledge the ominous nature of his comments.

“As you can see, I’m not just MAGA – I’m Dark MAGA,” he said.

It was the first time Musk attended one of Trump’s rallies and was evidence of their growing alliance in the latter part of the presidential election. Musk has created a super political action committee in support of the Republican candidate and has spent heavily on get-out-the-vote efforts. Trump has said he would tap Musk to lead one government efficiency committee if he gets the White House back.

Trump joined Musk in August a rare public conversation on X, a friendly conversation that lasted more than two hours. In it, the former president focused largely on the July assassination attempt, illegal immigration and his plans to reduce government regulations.

Before a large crowd on Saturday, Musk tried to portray Trump as a champion 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 take away your right to freedom take away”. effective voting.” Musk then criticized an effort in California to ban voter ID requirements.

The event took place on the same grounds where a gunman’s bullets grazed Trump’s right ear and killed a Trump supporter. Corey Comperatore. The shooting injured several others.

Several members of Comperatore’s family, as well as other attendees and first responders from the July gathering, returned to the site Saturday. Also present with the former president was his running mate, the Republican senator from Ohio. J.D. Vanceson Erik Trumpdaughter-in-law and co-chair of RNC Lara Trumpalong with Pennsylvania lawmakers and sheriffs.

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Kinnard reported from Chapin, South Carolina, and can be reached at http://x.com/MegKinnardAP

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The story has been corrected to reflect Elon Musk saying Democrats want to “effectively take away your right to vote,” not “effectively fight for your vote.”