"This actually looks like election rigging" — Internet reacts to Elon Musk taking over "@America" handle on X to push out pro-Trump propaganda
Tesla CEO Elon Musk created The America PAC which is a super PAC (political action committee) comprising the backing of multiple tech businessmen to support Donald Trump's 2024 presidential campaign. Recently, Musk took over the @America handle to push out pro-Trump propaganda and also changed his personal X bio to:
"Read @America to understand why I’m supporting Trump for President"
Musk has also been reposting information about his virtual town hall events in support of Trump on the @America X account. Commenting on the same, an X user @batsdune stated:
"anyone else think it’s morally reprehensible that elon stole the handle “@/america” to promote conservative propaganda and is parading the account around like it’s the actual Government"
The tweet garnered a lot of attention from netizens and they took to X (formerly Twitter) to express their opinions on Musk taking over the political action committee account wherein an internet user tweeted:
"This actually looks like election rigging, acting as if America itself is endorsing one candidate. This is illegal!"
"the guy who said twitter should be politically unbias" an X user stated
"I wonder what its gonna post if he loses" another X user mentioned
"We need solid legislation against this behavior so people would have more trust in their media outlets." an internet user said
"Yes it very much is. The only people that support it are people who are thinking it gives their side an advantage." another internet user commented
Moreover, some netizens also defended Musk's actions:
"He owns the platform last I checked. If you don’t like it, leave, simple as that!" an X user tweeted
"No because he owns the site. Businesses can operate as they wish" another X user mentioned
"Not after SNL basically endorsed Kamala while violating the Equal Time Rule." an internet user said
Elon Musk's PAC launched the Election Integrity Community forming a cesspool of election conspiracy theories
According to WIRED dated October 31, 2024, the America PAC founded by Elon Musk launched a group called the Election Integrity Community on X with more than 60,000 members with its bio stating:
"Share potential incidents of voter fraud or irregularities you see while voting in the 2024 election"
The community has been described by the publication as "a cesspool of election conspiracy theories" alleging incidents from voting by unauthorized immigrants to misspelled candidate names on ballots. The publication also mentioned the statement of the deputy director of the Center for Business and Human Rights at New York University, Paul Barrett who called it "just an election denier jamboree."
Moreover, as per The Guardian dated October 22, 2024, American Pac paid $201,000 to run a lot of ads on X during the past three months in addition to which the political action committee spent $3 million on thousands of advertisements on Instagram and Facebook at the time. As per filings of the Federal Election Commission, Elon Musk's pro-Trump political action committee was funded to $75 million.
The Guardian also reported that in addition to spending money on in-person events to propagate his pro-Trump agenda, Elon Musk also pledged to give away $1 million each day till the election to voters who sign America PAC's petition.
Elon Musk announced at a town hall event in Pennsylvania on October 19, 2024.