Musk rails against Democrats alongside Trump

Tech mogul Elon Musk, appearing alongside former President Trump at his rally in Butler, Pa., railed against Democrats, claiming the party wanted to take away basic rights from citizens.

Democrats want to “take away your freedom of speech, they want to take away your right to bear arms, they want to take away your right to vote, effectively,” Musk, the owner of X and Tesla, said at the rally, held at the same site where an assassin tried to kill Trump on July 13.

The remarks were some of the most political yet by Musk, who has taken an out-sized role in this presidential election as he has tied himself closely to Trump.

Trump introduced Musk before his remarks. Musk had endorsed the former president on the day he was shot in July.

“The true test of someone’s character is how they behave under fire. We had one president who couldn’t climb a flight of stairs and another who was fist pumping after getting shot,” Musk said, swiping at President Biden.

Musk has backed Save America PAC, an outside group that has taken on a leading role in get out the vote efforts for the Trump campaign. He repeatedly urged attendees on Saturday to register to vote, and he claimed without evidence that 2024 would be “the last election” if Democrats win in November.

Democrats have pushed for expanded voting rights laws, though Republicans have argued that their rivals have sought to make it easier for non-citizens to vote. There is little evidence to show that large numbers of non-citizens are voting.

Democrats have sought to enact tougher gun control measures as a response years of mass shootings at schools, workplaces and places of worship in the United States.

But Vice President Harris, the party’s nominee for president, has been adamant she is not seeking to take away gun owners’ firearms.

Harris has spoken repeatedly in recent weeks about being a gun owner herself, as has her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D).