When the sun rose on President Donald Trump’s victorious 2016 run against Hillary Clinton, whispers of election interference grew like insidious weeds. Yet the script was flipped dramatically in 2020. Even though Joe Biden clinched a decisive victory over Trump, cries of widespread deception rang out from the Oval Office in a groundless chorus. Such false claims set the stage for the disconcerting events of January 6 and have snowballed into nearly 90 criminal indictments against him.
In the subsequent 2024 presidential race, Biden’s former Vice President, Kamala Harris, threw her hat into the ring against Trump. She flagged potential strategies of manipulation, an obvious front to bolster her campaign. Despite Harris tooting her horn and Trump tainted by 34 felony convictions, America elected Trump once again, waving off these hollow allegations.
Fast-forward less than a year following Trump’s triumphant return to the presidency, and a nonprofit from Wisconsin directs its accusatory lance at none other than tech savant, Elon Musk. The accusation pertains to Musk’s alleged attempts to clandestinely support Trump’s 2024 campaign. The plaintiffs include the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign and a pair of voters, essentially accusing Musk of manipulating the vote through financial incentives.
Musk’s America PAC and a Musk-connected entity dubbed United States of America Inc. also find themselves under the legal spotlight, basking in charges of violating state election law. The perceived violation stems from a so-called ‘audacious scheme’ to incentivize, or perhaps more accurately, bribe Wisconsin residents into siding with their candidate.
The allegations root their basis in Musk’s machinations preceding Wisconsin’s 2024 Supreme Court election. The plaintiffs assert that Musk handed out checks totaling a cool $1 million. To add further fuel to the fire, Musk’s PAC allegedly offered $100 cash payments to registered voters who agreed to sign petitions and reveal their personal information.
According to the complainants, Wisconsin law explicitly restricts anything of value surpassing $1 to entice someone to cast a vote or support a particular candidate. They also assert that these actions breach the state’s prohibition on unauthorized lotteries—a clear overstep of boundaries, if true.
Wisconsin’s Attorney General, Josh Kaul, initiated legal action against Musk and America PAC preceding the million-dollar giveaway event. However, the law proved a toothless predator in his efforts. Multiple failed attempts to halt the event included a county judge’s reluctance to intervene immediately, a futile appeals court motion, and the state Supreme Court’s refusal to consider the case.
Following Trump’s 2024 victory, whispers of skepticism re-emerged from the shadows, heightened by the president’s own questionable comments. It appears the concept of election integrity is as malleable as putty in the hands of our politicians.
A post-election event saw Trump attributing his triumph in a crucial swing state to Musk’s proficiency with technology. ‘He knows those computers better than anybody. All those computers, those vote-counting computers,’ the president boasted. ‘And we ended up winning Pennsylvania like in a landslide. So, it was pretty good, it was pretty good. So, thank you to Elon.’
The accusations against Musk extended beyond Wisconsin’s borders. Similar heavy-handed methods were reportedly used in other battleground states during the 2024 election. In Pennsylvania, he dangled an enticing $1 million daily lottery for voters willing to throw their lot in with his PAC’s petition drive.
Prospective participants were also promised $47 for every referral they could snare into their net, encouraging more to register and sign on. Pennsylvania’s prosecutors endeavored to halt this controversial initiative, yet a judge dismissed the objections, ruling the initiative was not an illegal lottery.
The Wisconsin complaint aims to hold Musk and his associates accountable and deter them from employing such tactics in forthcoming elections. Though Musk indicated intentions to reduce his political spending, he maintained an ambiguous stance regarding future participation.
Musk’s subtle exit from the Trump administration last month appears to have heralded a shift in his relations with Trump’s steadfast Republicans. His recent calls for a fresh political party and his criticism of lawmakers’ loyalty to Trump’s legislative agenda sparked a visible divide.
Meanwhile, speculations continue to peek out from Democratic strongholds such as Rockland County, New York. Here, other Democratic candidates experienced substantial victories, but Harris’s tally seemed unusually low—a suspicious anomaly raising eyebrows and further igniting concerns about the validity of Trump’s 2024 win.
Overall, the inconsistencies and questionable behaviors surrounding the election have fed into the narrative of potential meddling, especially in swing states. As we look back at the 2024 election, the battle for truth and integrity continues unabated, muddying the waters of our democracy.