Tech mogul Elon Musk appeared alongside former President Donald Trump at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, and slammed the Democratic Party, claiming they were trying to strip people of basic rights.
Musk, the owner of Company X and Tesla Inc., said at the rally that Democrats want to “effectively take away your free speech, your right to bear arms, your right to vote.” It was the same location where an assassin tried to kill President Trump on July 13th.
The comments were some of the most politically charged remarks yet by Musk, who has close ties to President Trump and has played an outsized role in this presidential election.
Trump introduced Musk before speaking. Musk supported the former president on the day he was shot in July.
“The true test of a person's character is how they conduct themselves under gunfire. There were presidents who couldn't walk up the stairs, and there were presidents who were fist-pumping even after being shot,” Mask said. He said this while mocking President Biden.
Musk supports Save America PAC, an outside group that plays a leading role in promoting the Trump campaign's voting efforts. He repeatedly urged attendees Saturday to register to vote and claimed without evidence that if Democrats win in November, 2024 will be the “last election.”
Democrats are pushing to expand the Voting Rights Act, but Republicans say their rivals are trying to make it easier for non-citizens to vote. There is little evidence that large numbers of noncitizens vote.
Democrats have sought to enact stricter gun laws in response to years of mass shootings in America's schools, workplaces and places of worship.
But Vice President Harris, the party's presidential candidate, has been adamant that she has no intention of taking away firearms from gun owners.
Harris has repeatedly talked in recent weeks about being a gun owner, as has her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D).
