The flow of Elon Musk’s dark money into Pennsylvania and beyond this election cycle is “deeply concerning,” the state’s Gov. Josh Shapiro told Kristen Welker on “Meet the Press.”
“I think there are real questions with how he is spending money in this race, how the dark money is flowing, not just into Pennsylvania, but apparently now into the pockets of Pennsylvanians,” Shapiro said.
“That is deeply concerning. Look, Musk obviously has a right to be able to express his views. He’s made it very, very clear that he supports Donald Trump. I don’t – obviously, we have a difference of opinion. I don’t deny him that right. But when you start flowing this kind of money into politics, I think it raises serious questions that folks may want to take a look at.”
Shapiro stopped short of calling Musk’s plan illegal, but noted he believes “it’s something that law enforcement could take a look at.” He previously served as the state’s district attorney.
While speaking at a Trump campaign event on Saturday, Musk said he would give $1 million a day to one registered voter who has signed his America PAC petition. Some experts have commented that it could be against the law to offer a cash payout for signing a petition the requires the signee to be registered to vote.
But others have noted that internet regulations, First Amendment boundaries and even campaign finance laws don’t offer enough evidence that Musk had broken the law with his earlier support for Trump that included paying people to sign up for his PAC, before announcing the new giveaway. “That’s where the Musk critics run into a wall,” Matt Bilinsky, an L.A.-based attorney and Fox News contributor, told TheWrap.
The petition in question is in support of the First and Second Amendments to the U.S. Constitution — the right to freedom of speech and the right to bear arms, respectively. Musk’s PAC is currently touring the state of Pennsylvania, and the tech CEO is registering voters for Trump.
While on the topic of Pennsylvania, Shapiro admitted that the electoral race is likely to be close. “Let me explain: 2016, the race was decided by 44,000 votes. Donald Trump won here in Pennsylvania. In 2020, the race was settled by 80,000 votes. Joe Biden won. In both instances, it came down to a point or less. So the fact that you have polls showing that it’s, you know, a jump ball, a statistical dead heat, maybe Kamala Harris is up a point or so – that is not a shock,” he explained.
“We understand these races are close,” Shapiro added. “You’ve got to compete for every vote. And while we’re a big state, we’re still a retail state. You’ve got to show up. And I’m encouraged by the fact that the vice president has been here so much and is committed to coming back here many times before Election Day.”
You can watch the interview with Gov. Josh Shapiro in the video above.
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