Musk Officially Endorses Trump
Offers Shocking Incentives to One Person Daily Until Election Day
Promises at Campaign Rally Supporting Pennsylvania
Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla (left), and former President Donald Trump, the Republican candidate for the U.S. presidential election.
Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla who has taken a leading role in former U.S. President Donald Trump's Republican presidential campaign, declared on the 19th (local time) that he would give approximately 1.4 billion KRW daily to one person who signs a petition supporting freedom of expression and gun ownership rights.
According to foreign media including Fox News, Musk said at a campaign rally held in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, "Because I want as many people as possible to sign this petition, I have prepared a surprise gift for you," promising to pay $1 million (about 1.37 billion KRW) daily to one randomly selected signer until the presidential election day.
The petition Musk referred to pledges support for the First Amendment (freedom of expression) and the Second Amendment (right to bear arms). Musk is conducting the petition signing through 'America PAC,' a super PAC (political fundraising organization) he established to support former President Trump.
Until now, Musk has paid $47 (about 63,000 KRW) per signer to those who encouraged participation in this petition in seven battleground states including Pennsylvania. This week, he raised the reward to $100 (about 137,000 KRW) specifically for Pennsylvania.
He further expanded the petition participation 'incentive' by promising a large cash payment on this day. At the rally, Musk gave $1 million to one selected petition signer. According to Reuters, Musk said the selected individual was "completely unaware" of this beforehand, and Musk handed over the check saying, "Anyway, you're welcome."
The reason Musk is fervently encouraging petition participation appears to be aimed at gathering information on voters in battleground states amid a tight race and utilizing it for election campaigning. Analysts interpret this as a strategy to identify supporters of conservative agendas and connect them to Trump support. While vote-buying is a crime under current U.S. federal law, paying petition signers or those encouraging signatures is not illegal.
On the same day, Musk harshly criticized Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris and emphasized that former President Trump must win. He sarcastically noted that the two assassination attempts on Trump prove he is someone who shakes the establishment, implying that no one seems to try to kill Vice President Harris for that reason.
Known to have supported the Democratic Party in the past, Musk publicly declared his support for former President Trump in this election and has actively engaged in campaigning for him. He donated about $75 million (approximately 102.1 billion KRW) to 'America PAC' in the third quarter alone.
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