Tesla-Boss Elon Musk (53) is in the US election campaign because of the million-dollar lottery he announced been summoned to a court date – and ignored it. “Elon Musk did not appear,” a spokesman for the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office said Thursday. The prosecution sees the lottery organized by Musk as illegal.
The head of the company SpaceX and Tesla supports the Republican candidate in the presidential election campaign Donald Trump (78) and has already invested tens of millions of dollars in his campaign. Almost two weeks ago, Musk announced every day until the election a million dollars to be raffled off among those, who have signed a conservative petition and are registered to vote in one of the seven states crucial to the election.
Federal court demanded
Musk’s lawyers explained Musk’s absence by saying that the case should be heard in federal court, said Philadelphia District Attorney John Summers on Thursday. However, his authority will try to fend off this advance. “After all, this is a case involving state law.”
Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner sued Musk to stop the lottery in the middle of the election campaign. The prospect of a million dollars is intended to mobilize voters who could vote for Trump – and who would otherwise have stayed at home.
The US Department of Justice had Musk’s support for Trump founded lobby group America PAC warned that the action might be illegal. According to America PAC’s website, 13 U.S. citizens, including four in Pennsylvania, have received the $1 million so far.
Battle for key states
Pennsylvania is one of the particularly hotly contested states in next Tuesday’s presidential election, pitting Trump against the Democratic candidate Kamala Harris (60) deliver an extremely close race. Because of the peculiarities of the US electoral system, these so-called swing states are important, in which a few thousand voters could ultimately make the difference.
Musk, formerly a supporter of former Democratic President Barack Obama (63), was after the failed assassination attempt on Trump on July 13th
joined the Republican’s election campaign and has been actively involved in the campaign ever since. According to media reports, the 53-year-old has already invested around $118 million (109 million euros) in the Trump election campaign.
The right-wing populist has earmarked a position in his government for the entrepreneur, where he will cut bureaucracy and throw public servants out the door. Musk is closely linked to the Pentagon and NASA, particularly through his company SpaceX – and is subject to regulatory oversight that could be significantly scaled back in a Trump administration.