Election 2024: Elon Musk makes his first appearance at a Trump rally in Pennsylvania

Billionaire and technical manager Elon Musk expressed the upcoming presidential election in dark words during an appearance Donald Trumpand called the Republican presidential nominee the only candidate “who will preserve democracy in America.”

SpaceX and Tesla CEO Musk, who also bought X, met with Trump on Saturday in Butler, Pennsylvania, at the former president's location survived an assassination attempt in July. Musk said “this will be the last election” if Trump doesn’t win. Musk wore a hat emblazoned with Trump's campaign slogan “Make America Great Again” and appeared to acknowledge the foreboding nature of his comments.

“As you can see, I’m not just MAGA – I’m Dark MAGA,” he said.

It was the first time Musk had attended one of Trump's rallies and was evidence of their growing alliance in the final stretch of the presidential election. Musk created a super-political action committee to support the Republican candidate, which spent heavily on voter turnout. Trump has said he would tap Musk to lead Government Efficiency Commission if he wins back the White House.

Trump joined Musk in August a rare public conversation on X, a friendly conversation that lasted more than two hours. In it, the former president focused primarily on the July assassination attempt, illegal immigration and his plans to cut government regulations.

Addressing a large crowd on Saturday, Musk tried to portray Trump as a champion of free speech, arguing that Democrats “want to take away your freedom of speech, they want to take away your right to bear arms, they want to take away your right to do so.” vote effectively.” Musk continued to criticize California’s efforts to ban voter ID requirements.

The event took place on the same property where a gunman's bullets grazed Trump's right ear and killed a Trump supporter. Corey Comperatore. Several other people were injured in the shooting.

Several members of Comperatore's family, as well as other participants and first responders from the July rally, returned to the site Saturday. His vice president, the Republican senator from Ohio, also appeared with the former president. JD VanceSon Eric TrumpDaughter-in-law and RNC co-chair Lara Trumpalong with Pennsylvania legislators and sheriffs.

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Kinnard reported from Chapin, South Carolina, and can be reached at http://x.com/MegKinnardAP

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The story has been corrected to reflect that Elon Musk said Democrats “want to effectively disenfranchise you” rather than “effectively fight to vote.”