Musk to attend Trump rally at site of attempted assassination

Tech billionaire Elon Musk said he plans to attend former President Trump’s rally in battleground Pennsylvania this weekend, when Trump returns to the site where he survived the first assassination attempt on his life.

“I will be there to support,” Musk wrote in a post late Thursday on the social platform X, which he bought in 2022. 

Trump’s campaign announced last week that he would return to Butler just months after his ear was grazed with a bullet during a campaign event in July. The gunman and one attendee were killed and two others were injured during the incident, just days ahead of the Republican National Convention, where Trump became the official Republican nominee.

“President Trump’s return to Butler will stand as a tribute to the American spirit. In America, we do not let monsters like that evil assassin have the last word,” the campaign said in a release that framed Trump’s survival as “what the world has recognized as an act of divine providence.” 

Musk, who has increasingly waded into discussions on politics, endorsed Trump following the shooting. The tech entrepreneur helped launch a pro-Trump super PAC, America PAC, that has carried out some of the GOP’s get-out-the-vote efforts in the critical swing states. 

The Tesla and SpaceX CEO has also donated millions of dollars to GOP causes as early as 2022, according to recent media reports. He reportedly gave $50 million to Citizens for Sanity, a group with ties to Trump adviser Stephen Miller, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Musk also donated $10 million to boost Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s (R) presidential bid, which he suspended in late January. He also gave money to Building America’s Future, a Republican organization, in 2022. 

Musk’s increased political activity, particularly through his online commentary, could be an asset for the GOP nominee in the 2024 election, some political strategists on both sides of the aisle argued, characterizing him as a “megaphone” for right-wing views. The former president even floated giving him a Cabinet position if elected in November.

The shooting in Pennsylvania was one of two assassination threats the former president has faced this election cycle.

Last month, a suspect was arrested after Secret Service agents witnessed him pushing a rifle through the perimeter of Trump’s Florida golf course. The man, identified was Ryan Wesley Routh, was later arrested and charged with federal gun crimes.