Elon Musk makes first appearance at Trump rally and casts dark words on election

Billionaire tech executive Elon Musk had dark words about the upcoming presidential election during an appearance with Donald Trump on Saturday, calling the Republican presidential nominee the only candidate “who will preserve democracy in America.”

The CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, who also bought X, Musk joined Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, where the former president survived an assassination attempt in July. He warned that “this will be the last election” if Trump doesn't win and, dressed in a black-on-black cap emblazoned with Trump's campaign slogan “Make America Great Again,” appeared to acknowledge the foreboding nature of his comments.

“As you can see, I’m not just MAGA – I’m Dark MAGA,” he said.

The appearance marked the first time Musk attended one of Trump's brand rallies and represented the growing alliance between the two men in the final stretch of a closely contested presidential election. Musk founded a super PAC to support the Republican candidate, who spent heavily on turnout in the final months of the campaign. Trump has said he would put Musk in charge of a government efficiency commission if he wins back the White House.

Trump joined Musk for a rare public conversation on X in August, an overwhelmingly friendly chat that lasted more than two hours. In it, the former president focused primarily on the July assassination attempt, illegal immigration and his plans to cut government regulations.

Addressing a large crowd on Saturday, Musk tried to portray Trump as a champion of free speech, arguing that Democrats are “taking away your freedom of speech, they want to take away your right to bear arms, they want to take away your fight” to vote effectively .” Musk continued to criticize California’s efforts to ban voter ID requirements.

Saturday's rally took place on the same property where a gunman's bullets grazed Trump's right ear and killed his supporter Corey Comperatore. Several other people were injured in the shooting.

Several members of Comperatore's family, as well as other participants and first responders from the July rally, returned to the site Saturday. Also appearing with the former president were his vice president, Ohio Republican Senator JD Vance, his son Eric Trump, his daughter-in-law and RNC co-chair Lara Trump, and Pennsylvania deputies and sheriffs.

___

Kinnard reported from Chapin, South Carolina and can be reached at http://x.com/MegKinnardAP.