Did Elon Musk buy votes in the 2024 election?

Elon Musk is now Donald Trump’s “first buddy”. The world’s richest man — the founder and CEO of SpaceX, the founder, and chairman of X Corp, and the CEO of Tesla, Inc. — joined Trump on the campaign trail of the 2024 United States presidential election and, since Trump’s victory over Kamala Harris, has been named co-lead of the president-elect’s planned Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) advisory board along with Vivek Ramaswamy.

Contrary to some people’s opinion, Musk is an American citizen (he acquired U.S. citizenship in 2002), is eligible to vote, and therefore undeniably has a right to an opinion on the matter, as much as we might wish he didn’t. However, he doesn’t have the right to (nor does anybody else) interfere in the United States presidential election, but that’s what he’s been accused of. Specifically, he’s alleged to have bought people’s votes. But is that the case, and what has been done about it?

Did Elon Musk buy votes?

Per Reuters, starting in October, Elon Musk and his political group America PAC offered $1 million every day only to registered voters in swing states in the build-up to the 2024 United States presidential election. Given Musk’s strongly pro-Trump views, this made many conclude he was explicitly attempting to attract more Trump fans to get their vote in. Even more understandably, it resulted in Pennsylvania prosecutors suing Musk to stop him, accusing him of “running an illegal lottery.”

Philadelphia District Attorney Lawrence Krasner filed a lawsuit that said, “America PAC and Musk must be stopped, immediately, before the upcoming Presidential Election on November 5.” A few days before Krasner filed the lawsuit, the United States Justice Department warned Musk’s PAC that its $1 million giveaway might violate federal election law. Democrats also accused Musk of attempting to buy votes.

To be eligible to win, registered voters had to release personal identifying information, such as their addresses and phone numbers. They were also required to sign a pledge saying they supported the United States Constitution.

Somewhat bizarrely, on Monday, Nov. 4, one day before Election Day, Judge Angelo Foglietta allowed Musk’s snide giveaway to proceed despite a bizarre testimony that saw one of Musk’s aides acknowledging that his political group selected the contest’s winners.

Lawyers for America PAC and the group’s director, Chris Young, openly stated that the group dished out the prizes based on who they believed would be the best spokespeople for its pro-Trump agenda. Musk had previously claimed (read “lied”) that winners of the cash prizes would be chosen randomly.

So, to answer the question of whether Elon Musk bought votes in the 2024 United States presidential election: Yes, yes, he did. Though, we guess in his vague defense those people were almost certainly going to vote Trump anyway.

A skeptical person would think there’s a hint of foul play regarding the lawsuit’s outcome. Could the wealthiest man on the planet have used his significant financial clout to manipulate the outcome of this court case? It’s not like Donald Trump and his associates have ever previously dabbled in dodgy dealings, is it? Oh wait, yes, it is. It absolutely is. And to think it was Trump and the Republicans who had the audacity to believe the 2020 election was illegally stolen from them.