There’s an old saying, “Any publicity is good publicity.” That’s not always the case – just ask Gary Hart – but some people are pretty good at generating and levering publicity to their advantage, or to the advantage of a cause they’re invested in.
Elon Musk is one of those people. Elon has been crisscrossing battleground Pennsylvania in the last week, stumping for Donald Trump and JD Vance’s presidential campaign. Now he has put forth a petition, in which signers pledge their support for the First and Second Amendments. The kicker? Signing the petition gives one a shot at a daily million-dollar prize.
“We really want to get as many people as possible to sign this petition, so I have a surprise for you,” Musk announced on Saturday at a town hall in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. “And it’s that we’ll be awarding a million dollars randomly to people who have signed the petition. Every day, until the election.”
The petition reads, “The First and Second Amendments guarantee freedom of speech and the right to bear arms. By signing below, I am pledging my support for the First and Second Amendments.”
It’s a safe bet that most Trump/Vance supporters will agree with a statement of support for the First and Second Amendments; most of us on the right understand that there’s a reason these are the first two items in the Bill of Rights—and we realize that the second guarantees the first. The million-dollar giveaway is interesting, though. I’m not an expert on campaign finance law but it would seem that Musk isn’t bumping up against that problem; he is giving away his own money in support of a petition that is just an expression of support for the first two items in the Bill of Rights. However, a petition is, by definition, a formal written request. This petition doesn’t appear to be requesting anything. So, a publicity stunt. But it’s a stunt with a goal, and it may well get some voters motivated to get their ballots in. Musk’s America PAC, which is completely funded by Musk, is targeting voters in the battleground states.
The America PAC set a goal to get 1 million voters across Pennsylvania and the other swing states of Georgia, Nevada, Arizona, Michigan, Wisconsin and North Carolina to sign a petition in support of the First and Second Amendments by Oct. 21.
Musk, a former Democrat voter, has been quite the asset for the Trump/Vance campaign, and not just financially.
See Related:‘I’m With Elon’ – Gavin Newsom Finds an Acorn on SpaceX Launch Rejection
‘To Hell With Them’: Elon Knocks Those Who Are ‘Fundamentally Anti-American’ As He Stumps for Trump in PA
And, as my colleague Nick Arama pointed out, the swing state polls have given Kamala Harris quite the birthday present.
Trump appears to be hitting his stride at just the right time in the race. That’s making Kamala appear more and more desperate as she racks up the crazy, claiming Trump is exhausted (yet he’s doing more events/interviews than her), he’s “unstable” (as she and her team lie their heads off about Trump).
Expect a lot more crazy over the next few weeks. Get to your polling place early if you can.
A little over two weeks to go. Watch for the publicity wars to ramp up – and for the Harris/Walz campaign to grow increasingly desperate as we head into the last straightaway.
