Leah Feiger: So Trump brings Musk out, he calls him a truly incredible guy. Musk literally jumps into the air on stage, in what was captured in honestly one of the cringiest photos that I’ve seen online maybe this year, and then Musk talks to the crowd for a couple of minutes. What does he say? Talk us through that.
Vittoria Elliott: It’s such a turn from 2020 when there’s all this suspicion around mail-in ballots, around early voting. Now suddenly we’re hearing, “Make sure you’re registered to vote, vote early, do this, do that, get everyone you know to vote.” There’s this really, really big get-out-the-vote push, and that is what Elon was on. When the assassin’s bullet grazed Trump’s ear, he got up and said, “Fight, fight, fight.” And Musk very consciously said, “Vote, vote, vote.” And everyone in the crowd immediately saw that parallel that—
Leah Feiger: I mean, he drew it. Yeah.
Vittoria Elliott: People were very into that, and one of the things that Musk said that got a lot of reaction from the people that I was directly around was he said, “The Second—”
Elon Musk [Archival audio]: The Second Amendment is there to ensure that we have the First Amendment.
Vittoria Elliott: He was there to whip up the troops, to really speak to the true believers, to push, push, push for voter turnout, because I think my sense with the way that the MAGA movement is right now is that they understand what the Biden team understood in 2020 where it’s not about converting new people, it’s about getting the people that are already on your team mobilized. He said, “This election is the most important election of our lifetime.” Quite normal. I think I’ve heard every politician say that for the last 20 years, but then he says, “You have to bring everyone you know to vote. If they don’t, this will be—”
Elon Musk [Archival audio]: This will be the last election. That’s my prediction. Nothing’s more important, nothing’s more important.
Vittoria Elliott: I even had some people repeat that to me on the way out of the rally, and that is also something he has been very public about saying on X, even before coming to this rally. A lot of times when Musk is speaking publicly or when he’s interviewed, he will tamp back some of the rhetoric that he spreads online. If we think back to the Don Lemon interview, where he was confronted about the great replacement theory, he hedged a little bit on that.
