At a campaign rally for former President Donald Trump in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Elon Musk gave away $1 million to an attendee and vowed to continue the trend, giving away $1 million every day to anyone who voted for Trump until the presidential election on Nov. 5. Pennsylvania Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro said this announcement is “deeply concerning” and called on law enforcement to investigate the claim. In order for voters to be eligible for the million-dollar gift, they must be registered in a swing state, including Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, and sign a petition that the America PAC released supporting Trump. In Pennsylvania, the petition gives voters $100 who sign and an additional $100 for referring another Pennsylvania voter to sign.
Trump is an extremely dangerous candidate. As a felon on 34 counts of falsification of business records in the first degree, Trump was found guilty by a jury of his peers in New York in June for falsifying business records with an intent to defraud and commit another crime, which prosecutors claimed was to “conspire to promote or prevent the election of any person to a public office by unlawful means,” as Justice Juan Merchan stated to the jury. Trump also perpetrated the idea that President Joe Biden illegitimately won the 2020 election, which he falsely claimed was filled with fraudulent votes. This lie led a group of violent rioters to storm the capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, with the intent to obstruct Congress from certifying the results of the election, undermining the validity of our democracy.
In addition to supporting Trump despite his dangers to society, America PAC’s petition takes action to support the First and Second Amendments, protecting freedom of speech and protecting the right to keep and bear arms, respectively. Musk has been a steadfast supporter of freedom of speech with little to no restrictions. He unbanned a mass amount of accounts X had previously suspended shortly after he bought the company, under the condition that “they have not broken the law or engaged in egregious spam.” Most notably, Musk restored Trump’s account, which was suspended after the Jan. 6 attack on the capitol, where Trump repeatedly tweeted disinformation alleging he won reelection.
In the 2024 election, the Second Amendment has been the subject of heated debates between candidates and voters. In a country where, according to the Gun Violence Archive, there were over 650 mass shootings — defined as an incident in which four or more people were injured or killed — in the U.S. in 2023 alone, both candidates’ support for firearms is shocking.
Vice President Harris announced that both she and Gov. Tim Walz are gun owners. While Harris has demanded nationwide red flag laws, universal background checks, and an assault weapons ban, she is still a proponent of the Second Amendment, which is an issue in and of itself. However, Trump takes his support a giant step further, claiming he is the “most pro-gun, pro-Second Amendment president.” He argues that guns are not to blame for mass shootings and has indicated that he will not enact any new gun restrictions if elected. America PAC supports Trump in these extreme beliefs, as opposed to nearly any level of restrictions on guns.
The U.S. Justice Department is looking into the legality of Musk’s actions through the America PAC, warning that his actions might break federal law, which bars paying people to register to vote. According to people briefed on the matter, the Justice Department’s public integrity section, tasked with investigating potential election-related law violations, sent a letter to Musk’s PAC. In defense of allegations, Musk claimed that winners “can be from any or no political party and you don’t even have to vote,” although he did not address the potential legal problem of requiring Americans to be registered to vote for lottery eligibility. The PAC is also trying to get around legality claims by reframing its messaging to the group of winners being “selected to earn $1 million as a spokesperson for America PAC” and posting testimonials from previous winners in support of Trump.
Regardless how Musk frames this giveaway, he is attempting to buy Trump’s way into office — a move that is blatantly unfair to all Americans and people around the world who would have to deal with the catastrophes of a second Trump term. The one thing we can be sure of is that our vote matters, and has the power to counteract any action Musk attempts to take. In an election where the rights of the LGBTQ+ community, women, people of color, people with disabilities and so many more are at stake, it is essential that you register to vote and exercise that right if you are able to. Go to vote.org to find more information.
Hailey Baker, FCRH ’27, is a political science and philosophy double major from Gaithersburg, Md.
