LANCASTER, Pa. (AP) — Tech mogul Elon MuskWe’re speaking in support of Republicans at a town hall in Pennsylvania on Saturday night Donald Trumpplayed down January 6 attack He gave a speech at the U.S. Capitol and encouraged his supporters to vote early in the presidential swing state, while describing mail-in voting as a “recipe for fraud.”

The freewheeling session in a hotel ballroom in downtown Lancaster touched on a dizzying array of topics, from space exploration to the Tesla cyber truck, from immigration to the effectiveness of psychiatric drugs. The town hall was part of Musk’s efforts through his super PAC to support Trump in swing states ahead of the Nov. 5 presidential election against Democrats. Kamala Harris.

Musk, who Trump has promised to give him a role in his administration if he wins next month, spent almost two hours answering questions from town hall attendees. While most were laudatory and covered a variety of topics, one stood out in particular: One man wondered what Musk would say in the face of voters’ concerns that Trump’s election could lead to the return of democracy in the United States, given his role on January 6, 2021. he wanted. , rebel.

While Musk said it was a fair question, he also said the Jan. 6 attack by Trump’s supporters “was called some sort of violent insurrection, but that’s not the case,” an answer that drew applause from the crowd. More than 100 security guards were injured in the attack. beaten with his own weaponsWhen a crowd of Trump supporters believes that Lies that the 2020 election was stolen He stormed the Capitol to stop the certification of votes from him.

Musk also claimed that “those who say Trump is a threat to democracy are themselves a threat to democracy”; This comment was applauded by the crowd of hundreds packed tightly into the ballroom. Many more watched the event on X, the social media platform Musk bought two years ago.

Trump “essentially told people not to be violent,” he said. While Trump told the crowd on January 6 to protest “peacefully and patriotically” encouraged them to “fight like hell” To prevent Democrat Joe Biden from becoming president.

Musk, the richest man in the world Pledged more than $70 million He has encouraged his supporters to embrace voting early at events held to support Trump in the election and on behalf of his super PAC. Still echoing some of Trump’s skepticism about the method, Musk expressed his own skepticism about the process. He said postal ballots should not be accepted in the future, calling them a strange anomaly popularized during the Covid-19 pandemic and increasing the likelihood of fraud.

there is one number of guards Protecting mail-in ballots with a variety of ballot verification protocols, including every state that requires a voter’s signature.

The question about Jan. 6 was an outlier during the back-and-forth among the crowd, where Musk was repeatedly praised as a visionary and asked for advice and thoughts on education, arm wrestling, tax loopholes and whether he would buy Chicago. White Sox (He said he was a tech guy and had to pick his own battles.)

Musk has said he favors “non-harsh” regulation of AI and opposes “woke religion” as “basically an extinct religion.” He said the birth rate in the U.S. is a major concern.

He said he believed Jesus was a real person who lived about 2,000 years ago, and when asked about the best advice he had ever received, he replied: “I recommend studying physics.”

He also called a woman on stage and handed her a large check for $1 million; it was part of a promotion to give $1 million a day to a swing state voter who signed a super PAC petition supporting the U.S. Constitution.

For Josh Fox, 32, a UPS driver from Dillsburg, Pennsylvania, the gifts are just fine.

“This is great,” said Fox, who was waiting to attend the rally early Saturday. “It would be nice to have that.”

Fox, who plans to vote for Trump, rejects any suggestion that money might violate federal election rules.

“This is about supporting and encouraging people who support the Constitution,” Fox said.