The Tesla CEO is offering an incentive to sign a controversial petition ahead of the US election

Despite Elon Musk’s lack of experience in politics, this hasn’t prevented the billionaire from establishing himself as a key figure within the current 2024 US Presidential race.

Now, as the election is closer than ever – with Democratic candidate Kamala Harris going head-to-head with former Republican President Donald Trump – Musk has initiated a new financial incentive to registered voters in the US.

The X (formerly Twitter) bigwig is offering $47 to every voter who refers others to sign a petition that supports the First and Second Amendments of the United States Constitution.

Elon Musk joined Donald Trump during a recent campaign rally (Anna Moneymaker/Staff via Getty images.)

For those less up to speed on their US history, the First Amendment states that ‘Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; of abridging the freedom of speech’.

The Second Amendment, as detailed by the Constitution Annotated, is in reference to ‘the right of the people to keep and bear Arms’.

This brand-new initiative has been launched in the form of a petition by Turning Point Action and America PAC (Political Action Committee), a pro-Trump group backed and funded by Musk.

It’s designed to target swing states – states in the US were support for the two major political parties battling in the election have similar levels of support amongst voters. These States include Pennsylvania, Georgia, Nevada, Arizona, Michigan, Wisconsin and North Carolina.

For every person you refer who is a swing state voter, you get $47! Easy money.

HOLY SHLIT Elon’s America PAC is offering $47 for EACH registered voter you refer in a swing state that signs this petition: petition.theamericapac.org

According to the PAC website – which is only viewable to those based in the US – the ‘goal’ of the petition is to get 1 million registered voters in those swing states to sign up.

Musk’s PAC states that signing up would indicate support of the Constitution, which includes ‘freedom of speech and the right to bear arms’.

The website explains that voters can receive $47 not just once, but for ‘each registered’ vote that’s referred to the petition.

The petition, which expires on October 21, was dubbed by Musk as ‘easy money’ while re-posting alt-right political voice Jack Poso’s original tweet about the initiative.

Musk is offering money to people who sign a petition that targets swing states (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

As it stands, US federal law prohibits any money exchanging hands for registering to vote in federal elections. However, financial incentives – such as this one – are allowed.

This isn’t Musk’s first dabbling in funding political-based groups. The non-profit organisation, Building America’s Future, is also funded by the billionaire Tesla CEO.

As reported by The Hill, in the past Musk has donated around $60 million to Republican-based groups and causes.

The tech billionaire also joined Donald Trump on stage during a rally in Pennsylvania over the weekend in the lead up to the 2024 election.

Elon Musk reposts controversial video that says ‘this is why people make fun of women’

The Tesla boss has been very vocal about his support of Donald Trump

Elon Musk has reposted a controversial video that says ‘this is why people make fun of women’.

The tech mogul is no stranger to making his political views known on social media.

Musk has been vocal about his support of Donald Trump in the upcoming US presidential election.

As this video describes, Trump supports women’s rights far more than Kamala!

His posts in support of Trump have received mixed reactions from X users and a latest repost from the Tesla boss has caused a stir on social media

Earlier today, Musk shared a video originally uploaded by an account known as @DefiantLs.

In the caption, Musk wrote: “As this video describes, Trump supports women’s rights far more than Kamala!”

In the video, a woman shares her perspective on the presidential candidates’ stances on women’s rights issues, claiming that she’s ‘so tired of the tens of thousands of just hard fours online being like, “I’m voting for her because he’s gonna strip all of our rights away as a woman, I can’t do that as a mom”.’

Elon Musk’s repost has caused a stir on social media (Marc Piasecki/Getty Images)

She added: “What rights, babe? What rights? He was already president and how many rights did you lose? Zero. He’s trying to protect women’s rights.”

The woman goes on to claim that Trump won’t ‘do a nationwide abortion ban’ before adding: “It’s very simple, stop with the propaganda. This is why people make fun of women. Use your brain, use your brain, babe.”

Musk’s repost of the clip stirred people to respond, with many taking to the comment section to wade in with their opinions.

One user wrote: “Are you serious? You thought this was an intelligent point you wanted to share? Trump appointed the justices who took away women’s right to control their own bodies! “And he doesn’t protect you from dangerous men who might attack you, he’s the guy who does the attacking!”

Another said: “I respectfully disagree with the claims made in the video. Throughout her career, Kamala Harris has been a staunch advocate for women’s rights and gender equality.

“While perspectives may differ, I feel her policies and actions have been more consistent with furthering women’s rights than the previous administration.”

And a third person joked: “I’m starting to think this Elon guy is politically biased.”

Published 16:28 23 Sep 2024 GMT+1

Elon Musk is being sued for $15,000,000 by Cards Against Humanity for this bizarre reason

Musk’s SpaceX has been accused of damaging company property

Elon Musk has a real knack for getting himself into sticky situations.

In 2020, he wiped a jaw-dropping $14 billion off Tesla’s stock market value with a seven-word tweet.

And earlier this month, his own daughter called his words ‘heinous incel nonsense’ after he told Taylor Swift, “Fine Taylor … you win … I will give you a child and guard your cats with my life.”

Now, the 53-year-old is being sued for $15 million by Cards of Humanity.

According to a lawsuit filed on Thursday (September 19), Musk’s spacecraft manufacturer SpaceX allegedly trespassed on and damaged property owned by the adult party game company.

The land in question is a vacant plot in Texas that just so happens to be close to SpaceX’s headquarters, known as Starbase.

Cards Against Humanity is suing Elon Musk’s Space X for $15 million (The Washington Post/Contributor/Getty)

The lawsuit claims that the astronautics company has been using the land without permission for the past six months as a staging area for construction.

The story behind why Cards Against Humanity purchased the land is rather interesting.

As part of Donald Trump’s campaign for the US presidency back in 2016, he promised to build a ‘big, beautiful wall’ between the US and Mexico to stop migrants from entering the country.

A year later, Cards Against Humanity bought the plot of land near the US-Mexico border to prevent this from happening, crowdfunded by $15 donations by 150,000 people.

They say that if their $15 million lawsuit is successful, they will give the money to the 150,000 donors, who would each receive $100.

Musk’s spacecraft manufacturer has reportedly trespassed on and damaged land owned by the company (Steve Granitz/Contributor/Getty)

The lawsuit reads: “CAH acquired the Property for the sole purpose of ensuring that it would stay that way.

“SpaceX’s abuse of this Property has not only destroyed its natural condition, but has also caused even greater harm to CAH by virtue of the damage it has caused to CAH’s relationship with its paying supporters.”

While the games company rejected an offer from SpaceX to buy the land for less than half its value, it did cheekily say it would accept X (formerly Twitter) as compensation.

This isn’t the first controversy SpaceX has been involved in since it was founded in 2002.

It has previously been criticised over its reliance on government contracts and dominance, holding an estimated 80 percent of the space launch market as reported by the New York Times.

And, according to CNBC its Texas launch facility has also violated a number of environmental regulations by repeatedly polluting nearby bodies of water.

Published 12:43 2 Oct 2024 GMT+1

Elon Musk controversially removes this feature from X timelines because his ‘eyes are bleeding’

Elon Musk was met with a mixed response as he announced the removal of one timeline feature from X

Elon Musk has been a controversial figures since he took over the social media giant Twitter, now known as X. So as you may expect, his latest decision has not met with universal praise.

Musk has a habit of tinkering with the way X works, which hasn’t always gone down well with users, and his latest change has also divided people.

Some have welcomed the move, which he said is aimed to tackle ‘engagement farmers’.

This term is usually used in reference to accounts trying to gather replies and likes on social media by using a manipulative tactics to make their account more popular.

Often these accounts do not offer any real value and may contain stolen, manipulated or false content.

On top of that, Musk is also removing the feature because he thinks it’s unsightly, adding ‘my eyes are bleeding’.

Elon Musk has said he will make another big change to X (Susan Mullane/ISI Photos/Getty Images)

The option to use bold or italic text in posts that appear on other user’s timelines is being removed. Musk also said in a post on X that ‘any other formatting’ would also be removed.

In order to see the formatting on a post, users will have to click on ‘post details’.

Due to immediate and excessive use of bold font on 𝕏, it will be removed from view in the main timeline. You will have to click on post details to see anything in bold. My eyes are bleeding.

The response to the announcement was mixed. One user said: “Timeline looked like a mess with everything in bold.” Another simply wrote: “Thank you.”

Not everyone was quite so pleased, however. Some users countered with what they believe are better ways to counteract the problem. One user said: “Why not just make a setting so you personally don’t have to see bold font? Some accounts like to see bold font otherwise they miss a post because it blends into the echo chamber.”

Musk’s change has divided people (Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

Others users said that the overabundance of bold fonts might not be deliberate. One reported: “People say they’re not doing it on purpose, seems like there’s been some weird glitch.” Another said: “Is so true! It happens to me as well. I highly dislike it. AI is correcting the grammar with bold font. It’s so funny.”

Others went for a more humorous approach, and complemented Musk on a ‘bold choice’.

Among the other changes Elon Musk has introduced since taking over Twitter include charging users for premium features, revealing plans to hide public likes for all users, tweaking the site’s rules to formally allow adult content, and launching a Stories feature with news summarized by AI.