An inside look at Elon Musk’s rallies: Rockets to Mars, conspiracy theories and a lot of Trumpism

Elon Musk has found a new calling: campaigning for Donald Trump. The richest man in the world has fully committed himself to this endeavor, embarking on a solo tour of Pennsylvania following their joint appearance at a rally in Butler, the site where the former president survived an assassination attempt. This state is expected to play a crucial role in the presidential elections on November 5.

Musk’s rallies, featuring questions from a devoted audience, are a strange cocktail that combines his dreams of establishing a colony on Mars with the fake news and conspiracy theories of Trumpism. According to Musk, Kamala Harris is merely a “puppet” of a supposed machine that is controlling her and allegedly “importing voters” from the Democratic Party to facilitate the establishment of a one-party regime in the United States. If this were to occur, he warns, there would be stringent regulations that could make “getting to Mars impossible.”

“We will remain forever confined to Earth,” he cautioned at one of the rallies. “This election could be decided by a handful of people, it could just be that a little extra effort on voter registration decides the entire future of civilization.”

To attend Musk’s rallies, participants must not only be registered voters in Pennsylvania but also sign a declaration supporting the First and Second Amendments of the Constitution, which guarantee freedom of speech and the right to bear arms. In Musk’s view, the rights he champions are under serious threat from the Democrats, whom he believes are stifling the truth—claiming, for instance, that Google conceals information and that traditional media are puppets controlled by unseen forces.

On Saturday in Harrisburg, Musk announced that he would give away $1 million a day to individuals who sign the petition until the election, presenting a giant check to an excited rally attendee, John Dreher, right on the spot. However, this and other payments indirectly linked to voter registration hover on the edge of legality. The law prohibits paying voters for casting their votes or for registering to vote — including through sweepstakes. Despite this, Musk is offering $1 million in a sweepstakes to those who sign the declaration, even though he requires participants to be registered voters to enter. In doing so, he seems to be exploiting a legal loophole. By election day, he will have spent a total of $18 million on these prizes.

The SpaceX founder is holding daily rallies across Pennsylvania He kicked off his tour in Folsom on Thursday, moved to Philadelphia on Friday, continued to Harrisburg on Saturday, and spoke at Pittsburgh on Sunday. Musk’s aim is to mobilize Republican voters in Pennsylvania, a crucial battleground state in this election, especially with the voter registration deadline looming on Monday. To support his efforts, he has donated $75 million to his super PAC, America PAC, which is campaigning for Trump. Musk is also taking a hands-on approach, hiring staff to canvass neighborhoods and even offering cash rewards for successful voter registrations.

The stage set for Musk’s rallies is simple: a large U.S. flag in the background, with the South African-born tycoon standing at the forefront, microphone in hand. After a brief opening speech that reveals his lack of oratorical skills, the question-and-answer period begins. During his speech in Philadelphia this past Friday, he spoke for just nine minutes, dedicating the first three to his vision of humanity as a multi-planetary civilization, complete with a base and city on Mars. “I think it would be incredibly exciting,” he said, imagining a situation where people would “go out there and find alien civilizations, like in Star Trek.”

“Meanwhile, back on Earth, we need to get president Trump to be re-elected. That is incredibly important,” he said, getting to the crux of the message. Musk advocated for freedom of expression, the right to bear arms, and border security while expressing his opposition to rising public debt, conveniently overlooking that under Trump, it soared at an unprecedented rate. “It’s unsustainable. That’s why we need the Department of Government Efficiency,” he said, calling it D.O.G.E., a nod to Dogecoin, the cryptocurrency that features a dog as its mascot, which he has been semi-adopted.

If Trump wins, he plans to task Musk with implementing a drastic reform of the public administration. “DOGE on a brass plaque. It’s going to be amazing,” he said, before acknowledging that his plans would involve massive layoffs of government officials, who would be treated “generously” with two years’ pay or something similar.

The first question from attendees was about Musk’s newfound interest in politics. “I think we are at a crossroads,” he replied. He argued that during the Biden-Harris administration — under which his fortune has increased by approximately $40 billion — he saw “a level of government overreach and manipulation that is extremely troubling.”

“I see a deliberate attempt to import as many people as possible into swing states like Pennsylvania in order to ensure that America becomes a permanent one-party state,” he said, arguing that “the fake legacy media” is trying to cover up the issue. In doing so, Musk once again embraced the Great Replacement Theory, a favored conspiracy narrative of the American far right.

“Kamala is just a puppet of a larger machine. If the machine runs for another four years, there won’t be any meaningful elections in the future, just like in California. All of America will be Californicated,” he warned. “The one thing that keeps California from being even worse is that people can still move out of California and still be in America, but what happens when there’s no place left to move?”

“Mars!” shouted one audience member. “Speaking of Mars,” Musk responded, using the opportunity to voice his frustrations about the regulatory control over Tesla and SpaceX. “The regulatory oppression year after year is worse and worse. There’s more regulatory agencies created every year, more rules and regulations every year until eventually everything is illegal,” he said.

“We had our rockets sitting on the pad for two months, ready to fly. How is it possible that SpaceX could build a gigantic rocket faster than the government can move paper from one desk to another? If that trend continues — which it will do unless there’s a conscious effort to have sensible deregulation — then Mars will be impossible. We’ll be forever confined to Earth,” he argued, expressing his hope that Trump would ease regulations, a move that would certainly benefit him. His $75 million investment could end up being highly profitable.

In response to another question, he compared the United States to a giant Gulliver tied down by a million little threads. “Trump is going to cut those ties,” he told the crowd.

At his rallies in Folsom and Philadelphia, Musk encouraged attendees to mobilize. “For those in typically deep blue areas,” referring to the Democratic Party’s color, “put a Trump/Vance sign on your lawn. People need social proof. They need proof that they’re not alone,” he said. “Wear a Trump T-shirt. Wear a MAGA hat.”

When asked whether he thinks there is a shadow government behind the Biden-Harris administration, he responded: “Let me put it this way: it’s not Biden. We know that for a fact. He’s obviously not in charge.”

At the Folsom rally, Musk sarcastically remarked that it must be a coincidence that Dominion Voting Systems machines — previously at the center of conspiracy theories surrounding the 2020 election — were being used in Philadelphia and Maricopa County, Arizona, both battlegrounds won by Democrat Joe Biden. However, the one minor detail that undermines his claim is that Dominion machines are not, in fact, being used in Philadelphia. In 2023, Fox News agreed to pay Dominion Voting Systems $787 million to avoid a defamation lawsuit over false claims that the company was involved in voter fraud.

The attendees enjoyed Musk’s events. It’s clear that they are on his side. “Thank you for buying Twitter and saving freedom of speech,” one person told him, despite the fact that the change in ownership has led to a surge in misinformation — much of which Musk himself has spread. Some audience members sought his advice on starting a business, while others inquired about his rockets. At the rally in Bolson, a child even came up on stage to take a photo with him. In Philadelphia, he wrapped up his speech by expressing his gratitude, stating it had been an honor to be there. “We are going to win this election,” he said.

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