Elon Musk’s mother appears to incite voter fraud

Elon Musk’s mother has been roundly criticized for a message posted on X, her son’s social network.

In this tweet, she attempts to play politics by encouraging Republicans and Donald Trump supporters to commit voter fraud, urging them to go to ten polling stations and vote ten times using ten false names.

Elon Musk’s mother, Maye Musk, appeared to encourage a form of voter fraud in a post over the weekend on X. https://t.co/bnkZjV4o1f

— NBC News (@NBCNews) October 8, 2024

Maye Musk also seems to be embracing the wave of massive misinformation propagated by her son on X (formerly Twitter). In a message, she asserts that, lacking other options because of the Democrats, Republicans should “also” on Election Day “work the system”.

She argues that it’s not necessary to register to vote, suggesting instead voting ten times using ten fake names at ten polling stations, which would amount to 100 votes.

Her message quickly sparked outrage, and X users commented on her tweet, claiming that her suggestion were actually illegal.

The community note pointed out that it was actually illegal to vote multiple times, accompanied by a link to US election law. Some even claimed that his tweet could be interpreted as incitement to commit a crime, which could expose him to charges of conspiracy to commit a crime.

While her son, Elon, was attending a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, Maye Musk asked X users to ignore another of her tweets, claiming that she had just learned at the event that Republicans would ensure that no illegal immigrants voted.

In Butler, Pennsylvania, we just heard that the Republicans will make sure no illegals vote. Ignore my previous post. https://t.co/syxMCHPeKN

— Maye Musk (@mayemusk) October 5, 2024

Her apology, when she suggested that her earlier message should be understood as sarcasm, was met with anger. Her comments drew strong criticism because of the dangerous precedent they set and the potential impact on public confidence in electoral processes.

This is particularly worrying given that her son owns a large social media platform, perceived by many X users as a source of truth, despite its involvement in misinformation.

Recall that at the same time, Elon Musk was attending a rally in Pennsylvania, wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat and calling himself a “Dark MAGA” as he hopped on stage alongside Donald Trump.

His appearance quickly went viral, and Musk was mocked by his detractors on his own social network.

The incident involving the comment by his mother, Maye Musk, as well as Musk’s takeover of X in general, highlights the growing danger of the interplay between social media management and politics.