Will Elon Musk tip the election for Trump?
Leah Figer: Trump calls Musk a really incredible guy. Musk literally leaps in the air, as captured by one of the most cringe-worthy photos I’ve ever seen on the internet. Musk then talks to the audience for a few minutes. What is he saying? Talk us through that.
Vittoria Elliott: It’s such a turn from 2020 when there’s all this suspicion around mail-in ballots, around early voting. We’re suddenly hearing: “Make sure that you are registered to vote. Vote early. Do this, do it, and get everyone in your life to vote.” Elon was part of this massive get-out the-vote campaign. Trump got up when the bullet hit his ear and shouted, “Fight! Fight! Fight!” Musk said “Vote. Vote. Vote.” Musk was very conscious of his words. Yeah.
Vittoria Elliott: People were very into that. Musk said, “The Second Amendment is there to ensure that we have the First Amendment.” Yeah.
Vittoria Elliott: People were very into that, and one of the things that Musk said that got a lot of reaction from the people that I was directly around was he said, “The Second–“
Elon Musk [Archival audio]: The Second Amendment is there to ensure that we have the First Amendment.
Vittoria Elliott: He was there to whip up the troops, to really speak to the true believers, to push, push, push for voter turnout, because I think my sense with the way that the MAGA movement is right now is that they understand what the Biden team understood in 2020 where it’s not about converting new people, it’s about getting the people that are already on your team mobilized. He said that this election was the most important of our lifetime. It’s quite normal. If they don’t, this will be–“
Elon Musk [Archival audio]: This will be the last election. “If they don’t vote, this election will be…
Elon Musk:This will be the final election. This is my prediction. Nothing’s more important, nothing’s more important.
Vittoria Elliott:01001010 I even had some people repeat that to me on the way out of the rally, and that is also something he has been very public about saying on X, even before coming to this rally. Musk will often tone down the rhetoric he uses online when he speaks publicly or is interviewed. When he was asked about the great-replacement theory in the Don Lemon interview he backed off a bit.
