Elon Musk’s Ironic Obsession with Voter Fraud – Mother Jones

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IN In the days leading up to the election, the torrent of lies, half-truths, stupid memes, inflammatory political statements and personal obsessions emanating from Elon Musk’s Twitter account became even more intense as the world’s richest man posted in a frantic attempt to elect Donald Trump.

Musk returned to a number of ideas that have preoccupied him for much of the year: the threat of election fraud, the need for voter ID laws and his ongoing concern that “non-citizens” will somehow vote. The timing of this attempt to stir up outrage over alleged illegal voting activities may strike some observers as ironic, given that the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office just sued Musk for carrying out his own “illegal… scheme” to lure conservative voters with the prospect of cash. money. .

The lawsuit follows Musk’s announcement of two election-related cash giveaways, both through America PAC, a super PAC he recently created to support Trump. First of all, he promised pay $100 to registered voters in the swing states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, who sign a petition in support of free speech and gun rights. Second, he committed to selecting one registered voter who signs a petition every day to get 1 million dollars.

Although exchanging money for votes is illegal, it’s safe to say that Musk and his lawyers intended to develop a system that circumvents such restrictions. But on Monday, Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner filed a civil lawsuit against Musk calling the draw an “illegal lottery.” Musk and America PAC have not responded publicly to the lawsuit and awarded another million-dollar winner in North Carolina on Monday.

While Musk’s own efforts to influence elections have attracted legal attention, he has been tweeting intently about alleged illegal voter fraud. Musk posted this voter ID on X numerous times throughout October. “should be mandatory throughout the country” and claiming that “almost every country on Earth” requires this. On Wednesday, for example, he said “new voter ID requirements must be implemented.” (Thirty-six states are already have any voter ID law. But these laws have been found to disproportionately disenfranchise older, poor, and voters of colorand be ineffective way to combat fraud. Moreover, concerns about voter fraud may result in suppression and disenfranchisement of qualified voters.)

On Wednesday Musk also tweeted in support that Virginia won a Supreme Court decision allowing presumptive non-citizen voters to be excluded from the polls, calling it “madness” that the “Democratic Party,” which he cited in contemptuous scare quotes, “sued to allow non-citizens to vote.” In fact, legal opposition to this move came from Justice Department Lawyers and Civil Rights Groupswho argued that eligible voters risked being wrongly removed from the rolls.

As Musk continues to make unsubstantiated claims of election fraud, X has established “Election Integrity Community” a crowd-generated channel for the exchange of typically unverified statements, reports, and complaints about alleged election irregularities. Overall, Musk seems intent on using his megaphone to portray the United States as a country rife with a certain type of fraud perpetrated by a certain type of illegal non-citizen voter. The irony of Musk’s obsession with this problem is great. given that he worked illegally in the USA when starting your first company. Although Musk has since claimed that he has a student visa allowing him to workin a joint 2013 interview with his brother Kimbal described them both as “illegal immigrants.”