Elon Musk propagates discredited 2020 election theories during his initial solo rally backing Trump
At a gathering in the Philadelphia suburbs, a spectator brought up supposed manipulation in the 2020 elections, prompting Musk to deliver an unclear response filled with inaccuracies and misleading statements about US voting procedures.
Musk argued, "With mail-in ballots and no verification of citizenship, it becomes nearly tricky to prove cheating."
While voter fraud is minimal, it's typically detected due to the safety measures built into the voting process, as independent election experts assert.
Musk's on-stage remarks to Pennsylvania voters mirrored his often questionable commentary on his social media platform X, where he frequently pushes debunked pro-Trump conspiracy theories.
"There are some incredibly strange occurrences that aren't easily explainable," Musk added. "The Dominion voting machines, for instance, are used in Philadelphia and Maricopa County, but not frequently in other areas. Isn't that a bit coincidental?"
Dominion Voting Systems, falsely accused by Trump and his legal counsel Giuliani of manipulating the 2020 election, settled a defamation lawsuit with Fox News for an astounding $787 million over their broadcast of false claims related to the company.
In response to Musk's assertions, a Dominion spokesperson disputed his points on Thursday night.
"Fact: Dominion doesn't serve Philadelphia County. Fact: Dominion's voting systems rely on voter-verified paper ballots. Fact: Hand counts and audits of these paper ballots have consistently confirmed that Dominion machines yield accurate results. These are not merely opinions; they are verifiable facts," the company declined.
Musk's allegations of organized irregularities in Arizona and Pennsylvania in 2020 are unfounded. Democratic and Republican officials from both states have consistently stated that the results, reflecting President Biden's triumph over Trump, were accurate and vetted.
Despite this, Dominion machines were in use in Maricopa County, Arizona, home to the state's biggest city, Phoenix. However, Musk incorrectly stated that Dominion software was also utilized in Philadelphia. The city employed machines from ES&S, according to Verified Voting, which monitors the voting equipment used in various counties across the nation.
ES&S did not respond to CNN's request for a comment on Musk's allegations in a timely manner.
At the event, Musk also repeated a common fallacy, advocated by Trump at his own rallies, calling for the country to shift entirely to "paper ballots" and manual counting.
"We must revert to paper ballots and manual counting only," Musk proclaimed. "As a technologist with extensive knowledge about computers, I firmly believe the last thing we should trust is the computer program."
CNN previously reported that over 98% of US voters reside in jurisdictions that already have thoroughly auditable paper trails. Nevertheless, Trump frequently asserts that the country needs to initiate the use of paper ballots.
Musk suggested that there might be potential issues with businesses dealing in election-related software, noting, "It's interesting how some companies, like Dominion, seem to have a monopoly on certain areas like Philadelphia and Maricopa County."
In an attempt to support his claims about voting procedures, Musk also utilized social media platforms, often sharing content that distorts facts related to mail-in voting and election security.
