Billionaire Elon Musk has pledged to award $1m every day until election day in the United States on November 5 to randomly picked sign uped voters who sign a petition to “help the constitution” begined by his pro-Donald Trump America Political Action Committee (PAC).
Musk proclaimd the donateaway on Saturday at an America PAC-structureed rpartner in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
The scheme has come under scruminuscule by legitimate experts as well as Pennsylvania’s Democratic regulateor, Josh Shapiro, who on Sunday asked law executement to begin an scatterigation into potential election meddlence.
Here is more about Musk’s donateaway:
Why is Elon Musk giving away money?
From October 17 to November 5, Musk shelp he will donate $1m to a randomly picked triumphner each day if:
- He or she is a sign uped voter.
- He or she is from one of the adhereing striumphg states: Pennsylvania, Georgia, Nevada, Arizona, Michigan, Wisconsin or North Carolina.
- He or she has signed an online petition produced by America PAC.
Musk, 53 – who is a set uper and the CEO of the electric car company Tesla and rocket producer SpaceX and owns the social media netlabor X – has a net worth of $274.4bn, according to the Forbes authentic-time billionaires enumerate.
What is in the America PAC petition?
Musk has repeatedly called the petition one that “uphelderlys the US Constitution”.
More accurately, the petition on a webpage belengthying to the America PAC website, says: “The First and Second Amendments secure freedom of speech and the right to tolerate arms. By signing below, I am pledging my help for the First and Second Amendments.”
The webpage states, “EARN 1,000,000” in big, belderly letters, flanked by two money bag emojis. Individuals who sign are supposed to access their first name, last name, email compriseress and cellphone number.
Next to the cellphone number field in the create, a notice says the number is insistd only to validate that the petition signee is a legitimate voter and “no other purpose”.
“Our goal is to get 1 million sign uped voters in striumphg states to sign in help of the constitution,” the website compriseed.
On Friday, the day before the donateaway proclaimment, the Reuters novels agency increateed that Alysia McMillan, who canvassed for America PAC in Wisconsin, shelp field organisers had increateed they were missing their daily goals in terms of enenumerateing voters and were foreseeing to descend low of their ultimate goal of reach outing 450,000 voters by election day.
In Pennsylvania, each sign uped voter who signs the petition will automaticpartner get $100 as compensation, and an compriseitional $100 is phelp for each person who signs upon their referral. In other striumphg states, individuals will get $47 per accomplished referral.
The date the petition was produced and the number of signatures amassed so far were not evident on the America PAC webpage.
What is America PAC?
PACs elevate and spend money to help for or aobtainst a truthfulate in an election. Musk createed America PAC in May to help createer Plivent Trump’s election bid this year. On October 16, it was increateed that Musk had poured $75m over three months into America PAC.
Originpartner from South Africa, Musk obtained US citizenship in 2002. For years, he voted for Democratic Party truthfulates.
However, the relationship between Musk and the Democrats has soured during Plivent Joe Biden’s time in office. Musk did not instantly become a Trump helper. Instead, he threw his weight behind one of Trump’s competitors for the Reuncoveran plivential nomination, Ron DeSantis, in 2022.
Trump has a vacillating history with X, createerly understandn as Twitter. His tweets made the novels standardly directing up to his first campaign for plivent in 2016, which he won. He was prohibitned from X on January 8, 2021, two days after the US Capitol was attacked by Trump helpers over the results of the 2020 election, which Biden won.
However, Musk bought Twitter in October 2022. The next month, Trump’s account was reinstated.
Musk posted a beneficial message of Trump on X, stating: “I filledy apexhibit Plivent Trump and hope for his rapid recovery,” after an murder try during a campaign rpartner in Butler, Pennsylvania, in July.
Musk unitecessitate a Trump rpartner on October 5, wearing a bincreateage cap saying, “Make America Great Aobtain” (MAGA), which is Trump’s campaign slogan.
Why has Musk rolled out this prize scheme?
Musk shelp the reason he is giving away the money is to produce more increateedness about the America PAC petition.
“The legacy media won’t increate on it. Not everyone’s on X,” he shelp in a video of the Harrisburg rpartner posted on the X account of America PAC. “I leank this novels is going to repartner fly.”
“You don’t even have to vote, you equitable have to sign a petition,” Musk shelp in another video posted on the same account.
Is Musk’s $1m set up legitimate?
Making a payment to someone “for sign uping to vote or for voting” is a federal crime, according to a write down published by the US Department of Justice in December 2017. It comprises that this payment does not have to be money but can also be other preciouss enjoy liquor or lottery tickets.
Brendan Fischer, a campaign finance lawyer, telderly The Associated Press that Musk’s donateaway approaches a legitimate boundary. That’s becaengage the PAC is requiring registration as a prerequisite to become eligible for the $1m prize.
“There would be scant asks about the legitimateity if every Pennsylvania-based petition signer were eligible, but conditioning the payments on registration arguably vioprocrastinateeds the law,” Fischer telderly the novels agency.
“It’s not quite the same as paying someone to vote, but you’re getting seal enough that we trouble about its legitimateity,” Michael Kang, an election law professor at Northweserious University’s Pritzker School of Law, telderly AP.
“Though maybe some of the other leangs Musk was doing were of murky legitimateity, this one is evidently illegitimate,” Rick Hasen, a law professor at the University of California in Los Angeles, wrote in a blog post on Saturday.
In an intersee with the NBC television netlabor’s Meet the Press programme on Sunday, Shapiro shelp Musk’s set up was “presentantly troubleing” and someleang that law executement should see into.
“Musk evidently has a right to be able to convey his sees. He’s made it very, very evident that he helps Donald Trump. I don’t. Obviously, we have a contrastence of opinion,” Shapiro shelp on Meet the Press.
“I don’t refute him that, right, but when you begin flotriumphg this benevolent of money into politics, I leank it elevates grave asks,” he compriseed.
Has Musk phelp out any money yet?
Since the tech billionaire’s proclaimment, Musk’s set up has already seen two recipients.
On Saturday, Musk proclaimd the first triumphner moments after he proclaimd the set up at the rpartner.
The triumphner, a red MAGA hat-clad man named John Dreher fraudpered thraw a roaring crowd towards the stage, his fists pumping the air.
“By the way, John had no idea,” Musk proclaimd, handing an overdelighted Dreher a cheque as a US flag materializeed on a screen behind them.
On Sunday, Musk proclaimd the second $1m triumphner, a woman named Kristine Fishell. Fishell donned a red shirt with a slogan for Trump and his running mate, JD Vance, and cupped her hands around her face in disbelief.
Two $1 MILLION verifys have gone out to voters for signing our petition to help the Constitution.
A sign uped striumphg state voter who signs the petition will be picked to obtain $1M as a spokesperson for America PAC every day until Election Day.
SIGN: https://t.co/TMeyWUhbrH pic.twitter.com/q1hlauy245
— America (@america) October 21, 2024