Elon Musk: Officially a fraud and piece of shit. Official or unofficial war criminal?

[Nivek 16917]

6 hours ago, 52-80 said:

I can believe Eberhard was the a car enthusiast. But you have to bridge how being a bigger gearhead translates into being responsible for what Tesla Inc is today. Eberhard 'consulting' with ACP actually was him discovering when they were already converting their battery to li-ion (per ACP President Tom Gage). He had no prior experience attesting to any involvement in auto manufacturing or motor design or such.  He last worked making book readers.  The technical chops overseeing most of Tesla engineering history was Straubel (#5) and Baglino, both Musk hires.

Let me know if I sum your arguments correctly:

1. Eberhard and Tarp are more responsible for Teslas success than Musk

2.Because contribution of their Plan during 4 year tenure supercedes whatever musk contributed in his 21 year tenure

3.The Plan being.. put li-ion in a car, and then make progressively cheaper cars... ?

Is that plan particularly unique or groundbreaking? Is that the key to making the #1 selling car in the world, and why havent anybody else successfully followed it? Why arent those 2 being sought after for any other gigs today given the enormity of their idea? Finally, if we're making this argument of genesis, wouldn't you say it's actually AC Propulsion that is responsible for everything Tesla is today?

 

Rolling double-sixes multiple time in a rows gets exponentially harder. Name some of these children of wealth who have done this.

Eli is top 10 in career yards and touchdowns. The only 2 guys above him who dont have championships are Marino and Rivers. Without the championships, he would still end up in HOF, just like Rivers will, and like the rest of the T10 are.  Are you seriously suggesting his career achievement is luck over competence?

 

1/3) I think that the influence and business plan that was put in place with the 2 founders was sound and I do not think Tesla exists without them.  I do not think Elon provided a service much greater than a Peter Thiel, Bezos, Buffet, Gates, Jobs, or any other celebrity rich connected guy could have if they were in the same position.   So yes, they had the idea for the company, their competencies to bringing products to market were instrumental in getting the plan off the ground and their knowledge and connections gave them credibility to outside investors.   Elon jumping in, also helped with the cash raising aspects and it seems like he was content with the founders getting things going.   During that time, the first EV to be street legal and mass produced by Tesla was going forward under their watch and with the people they brought to make it happen and to build for the future.   I absolutely believe they had a plan to build the first car at a loss to prove it could be done without legacy automakers and then use the money from the sales and additional funding to develop the next model which would be offered to many more customers (though too expensive) for everyone.  Then use that capital to grow the business further so they could bring down fixed unit costs across all models and compete with legacy automakers with EVs for mass consumption in westernized nations with the infrastructure.   They also needed to develop home charging stations and on site charging stations in order to grow the acceptance of the vehicles as well.   Elon has actually stated that was the plan for Tesla.  With the NDAs and the lack of insider knowledge, it seems like that strategy which they largely achieved was instrumental to their success.    So look at the Elon lead business strategy for Tesla.   It is a mess.  

I said I wasn't going to do this but here it is:

Article 1:  Master Plan 

Article 2: Elon takes credit for Master Plan (you can find other examples of this if you do not like the source) (here Elon refers to himself as CEO in 2006 when Eberhard was in that role! https://www.tesla.com/secret-master-plan

Article 3: Master Plan 2   (this one links some commentary, but the plan is outlined)

Article 4: Master Plan 3  (this one likes the research of the plan but doesn't address the implementation issues)

 

2) I really do not believe Musk runs the company.   How many CEOs do you know and what type of hours do they put in?  The few I knew who part-timed it or 40-50 houred it didn't last or the companies went under.  How can Musk do the same for Boring, Starlink, Twitter, Tesla, and SpaceX?   I think Musk relies on others to actually run the company.  (I have run a store before without the title while my supervisor was credited for it.  He had virtually involvement and only showed up when I went on vacation.)  

4) A plan doesn't have to be ground breaking to be successful.  They found an uninhabited market space which was not being served and they served it.   Look, buy low, sell high, isn't going to be new to any investor, but damn if that isn't how many of us make money in investments when it comes down to it.   If you are into shorting you just invert the order of operations but the fundamentals are still the same.   Especially if they estimate their margins are high and much higher than their capital costs.

Lastly,  I brought up the master plans (strategies) for a secondary reason.   If you look at the original one, it was focused and had clear goals which make sense.   If you look at Master Plan 2, it is kind of shitty.   The idea that they will enter every market segment for vehicular travel is simply not reasonable.   They can make passenger vehicles but they cannot just simply scale it up to any size and make something equivalent.   It reminds me of the idea of making a giant bug from the movie Relic a monster, in reality a scaled up bug would just hug the ground not able to get enough oxygen because its system is not evolved to be that massive.  Shrink rays and Big rays are fun for movies, but the physical limitations of reality get in the way.   Sure if new battery technology comes out, then this can be revisited.    

The other aspects include create stunning solar roofs (subjective and not actionable) and develop the self-driving capability which is 10x safer than manual driving.  Well they have had access to billions of miles driven from their products, how much is enough to put it into place?  Why is this not working?   Can it work given the limitations provided on the cars out there or what would have to be added for future care to be able to achieve this?   Enable car to make money for you when you aren't using it.  (How?)    And now they are moving to master plans 3/4 when they haven't achieved 2?   Why are they suddenly not focused and no longer able to meet these goals?   I think the answer is that Elon's setting them now.  And the first ones were set by the former founder.  So yeah, if that is accurate then much of the success is rooted in the culture and strategies they created off of the ideas they had.   

 

[C-Man 27184]

1 hour ago, chainsaw said:

Must burn him up that despite forcefeeding this tweet on the entire userbase's feeds it's been over 12 hours and there are more people living in Beeville than there are people (and bots) worldwide who "liked" his "joke."

Now this is funny

 

[bolverk 29652]

https://www.threads.net/@evilmopacatx/post/DBPXePsx2YG

[atomheartbevo 89625]

3 hours ago, chainsaw said:

Must burn him up that despite forcefeeding this tweet on the entire userbase's feeds it's been over 12 hours and there are more people living in Beeville than there are people (and bots) worldwide who "liked" his "joke."

He seems to be getting a lot more anxious these days.  He’s set up more PACs, most likely because his business acumen has left him in a position where  the locals are pissed at what he’s doing and the government has been taking a closer look at his operations. He needs protection.

[HenryJames 66035]

https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/musk-pushes-debunked-dominion-voting-conspiracy-theory-campaign-appear-rcna175985

[C-Man 27184]

3 hours ago, HenryJames said:

https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/musk-pushes-debunked-dominion-voting-conspiracy-theory-campaign-appear-rcna175985

Dominion is all ...

[F250 28764]

Twitter "x" -> Meme Stock Marketing -> Tesla Stock.

 

[royiv 9247]

5 hours ago, HenryJames said:

https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/musk-pushes-debunked-dominion-voting-conspiracy-theory-campaign-appear-rcna175985

Quote

“The last thing I would do is trust a computer program,” he said, promoting the idea that U.S. elections should use only paper ballots.

So, Elon, we’re not supposed to trust software now? That doesn’t seem like something you want to hear from the CEO of multiple tech companies.

[Captainant 27625]

6 hours ago, royiv said:

So, Elon, we’re not supposed to trust software now? That doesn’t seem like something you want to hear from the CEO of multiple tech companies.

Can't trust a program to count ballots, but you can trust a program to control several tons of steel and aluminum and flesh and blood moving at 70+MPH. Uh huh. 

[atomheartbevo 89625]

6 hours ago, royiv said:

So, Elon, we’re not supposed to trust software now? That doesn’t seem like something you want to hear from the CEO of multiple tech companies.

16 minutes ago, Captainant said:

Can't trust a program to count ballots, but you can trust a program to control several tons of steel and aluminum and flesh and blood moving at 70+MPH. Uh huh. 

Good thing we do all our banking by going into the bank and exchanging pieces of paper.

[dcbc 14465]

10 hours ago, C-Man said:

Dominion is all ...

Dominion lawyers won't need Viagra ever again.

[dcbc 14465]

1 hour ago, Captainant said:

Can't trust a program to count ballots, but you can trust a program to control several tons of steel and aluminum and flesh and blood moving at 70+MPH. Uh huh. 

The guy is implanting technology in human brains.  I think we can let it count votes.

But people who agree with him (since this isn't CR) definitely should request paper ballots.

Edited October 18 by dcbc

[ultimaton 2966]

"I would never trust a computer" says the man trying to sell me >checks notes< autonomous vehicles, robots, artificial intelligence, and computer brain implants. 

[Brisketexan 105057]

9 hours ago, royiv said:

So, Elon, we’re not supposed to trust software now? That doesn’t seem like something you want to hear from the CEO of multiple tech companies.

3 hours ago, Captainant said:

Can't trust a program to count ballots, but you can trust a program to control several tons of steel and aluminum and flesh and blood moving at 70+MPH. Uh huh. 

29 minutes ago, ultimaton said:

"I would never trust a computer" says the man trying to sell me >checks notes< autonomous vehicles, robots, artificial intelligence, and computer brain implants. 

These.  I mean....his stupidity has reached maximum density, a singularity of narcissistic idiocy.

Hey Elon fanboys/stans, PLEASE come back and defend this.  PLEASE.  I want to watch your pathetic mental gymnastics defending a billionaire with brain worms.

[dcbc 14465]

7 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

I mean....his stupidity has reached maximum density, a singularity of narcissistic idiocy.

And he's a spazmoid.

[Francisco 2.0 32386]

wrong thread.

Edited October 18 by Francisco 2.0

[royiv 9247]

38 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

These.  I mean....his stupidity has reached maximum density, a singularity of narcissistic idiocy.

Hey Elon fanboys/stans, PLEASE come back and defend this.  PLEASE.  I want to watch your pathetic mental gymnastics defending a billionaire with brain worms.

He knows that he’s manipulating Twitter to promote mis and disinformation. Every accusation is a confession with this crowd.

[Brian Fantana 6678]

On 10/15/2024 at 3:01 PM, jkates said:

Oh, this line again. (Ad hominem - a fallacy employed by someone with no argument on the topic at hand) What predator did I defend again? And where have I claimed to be holy? 

Anyway, Spacex is cool and Musk is leading it.

Gwynne Shotwell runs SpaceX. Elon doesn't do shit but nod his head when she speaks. She's the only person on the planet that Elon could never fire or tell no. He owes her everything, without her SpaceX never gets off the ground. Jeff Bezos' biggest L was failing to poach her over to Blue back in 2016.

[Al Bundy's Napoleon Hand 13570]

5 hours ago, Captainant said:

Can't trust a program to count ballots, but you can trust a program to control several tons of steel and aluminum and flesh and blood moving at 70+MPH. Uh huh. 

Computers:

 

[jkates 316]

1 hour ago, Brian Fantana said:

Gwynne Shotwell runs SpaceX. Elon doesn't do shit but nod his head when she speaks. She's the only person on the planet that Elon could never fire or tell no. He owes her everything, without her SpaceX never gets off the ground. Jeff Bezos' biggest L was failing to poach her over to Blue back in 2016.

Shotwell is awesome. As I wrote before, I worked with Spacex for over a decade. No question about who is in charge. It's Musk. That doesn't diminish Shotwell. She performs her role exceptionally. Being #2 at such a large force of a company means she's also in charge....after Elon.

[Brian Fantana 6678]

[Hornius Emeritus 12450]

 

 

 

[C-Man 27184]

So $75 isn't enough, how about $100?

Elon Musk raises payment offer to $100 for voters who sign petition supporting 'free speech & right to bear arms'

https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/rcna176075

 

[Captainant 27625]

51 minutes ago, jkates said:

Shotwell is awesome. As I wrote before, I worked with Spacex for over a decade. No question about who is in charge. It's Musk. That doesn't diminish Shotwell. She performs her role exceptionally. Being #2 at such a large force of a company means she's also in charge....after Elon.

Counterpoint from a bunch of reporting when elmo was chasing down turning Twitter into a fascist hangout:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-01-17/elon-musk-s-twitter-obsession-hurts-tesla-much-more-than-spacex

Quote

$140 billion has been girding for all this activity with its less-present CEO delegating more to Gwynne Shotwell, SpaceX’s president and chief operating officer. Since closing his Twitter acquisition in late October, Musk has been preoccupied with fixing operations and engineering issues at the San Francisco-based social media company, diminishing his involvement in day-to-day matters at SpaceX, according to current and former employees who asked not to be identified.

These people describe Musk as much more instrumental in setting the long-term vision for the company, including its goal to get to Mars. They say the CEO’s daily attention isn’t necessary — work flow for Falcon 9 launches, for example, have become fairly standardized over the years — and that when Musk’s focus is elsewhere, there’s some semblance of calm.

...

One former employee said the company will sometimes go through periodic hiring freezes when Musk turns his attention to SpaceX, as he’ll want final say on all new personnel. At the end of 2021, for example, multiple former employees say that Musk decided the company had too many employees and needed to downsize. Previously, he’s required that hiring managers prove an applicant’s exceptionality, prompting managers to try various methods, including asking for applicants’ SAT scores. During these periods, people are rarely hired, as Musk’s approval can be hard to come by.

Another former employee described a stressful weekend meeting before SpaceX flew human passengers for the first time, when the company was in an unspoken race with Boeing Co. to be the first to fly NASA astronauts to the space station.

One Friday night, Musk emailed the team working on Crew Dragon — SpaceX’s passenger spacecraft — to come in for an urgent meeting the next morning, early on a Saturday. When Musk arrived late, he quickly told the team that the launch timing couldn’t slip and they all had to work as hard as possible to stick to the schedule. He also told the team there were too many people working on the program. The brief conversation rattled the team members, who were trying to prioritize executing the mission as safely as possible.

...

Given this history, some current employees expressed relief about Musk’s recent focus on Twitter. With the CEO away, most of SpaceX’s executives report to Shotwell. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in December that he’d spoken with the COO about whether Musk’s acquisition of Twitter would detract from SpaceX’s work. “She assured me that it would not be a distraction to their mission,” Nelson said.

Musk is in charge like an idiot boss is in charge. What he says goes, but based on recent reporting miracles often get completed in spite of his presence - not thanks to him. If employees and operations work smoother when something is removed, that something's presence was a net negative to productivity. 

[Homercles 10205]

Well he said he worked ‘with’ SpaceX, so maybe he was their Customer Success Manager at the local refuse agency?  Or delivered mail to them?

[jkates 316]

12 minutes ago, Homercles said:

Well he said he worked ‘with’ SpaceX, so maybe he was their Customer Success Manager at the local refuse agency?  Or delivered mail to them?

I knew that was you stalking my LinkedIn! 

[dcbc 14465]

1 hour ago, Homercles said:

Well he said he worked ‘with’ SpaceX, so maybe he was their Customer Success Manager at the local refuse agency?  Or delivered mail to them?

Fluffer?

[F250 28764]

6 hours ago, jkates said:

Shotwell is awesome. As I wrote before, I worked with Spacex for over a decade. No question about who is in charge. It's Musk. That doesn't diminish Shotwell. She performs her role exceptionally. Being #2 at such a large force of a company means she's also in charge....after Elon.

 

[Brisketexan 105057]

Shotwell is awesome. As I wrote before, I worked with Spacex for over a decade. No question about who is in charge. It's Musk. That doesn't diminish Shotwell. She performs her role exceptionally. Being #2 at such a large force of a company means she's also in charge....after Elon.

Maybe you missed my post copied below. Defend your super brain genius guy, please. Seriously, do it, we wanna see.

These.  I mean....his stupidity has reached maximum density, a singularity of narcissistic idiocy.
Hey Elon fanboys/stans, PLEASE come back and defend this.  PLEASE.  I want to watch your pathetic mental gymnastics defending a billionaire with brain worms.

[F250 28764]

Elon Musk is the Chief Engineer at SpaceX yet he is neither a chief nor an engineer, discuss.

 

[MrBig 5370]

26 minutes ago, F250 said:

Elon Musk is the Chief Engineer at SpaceX yet he is neither a chief nor an engineer, discuss.

 

It reminds me of the SpaceX version of Foxcatcher with DuPont thinking he could actually wrestle. 

[HenryJames 66035]

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/pro-trump-group-funded-by-musk-struggles-with-outreach-targets-inflation-2024-10-18/

[NoName 16350]

Truly, we are in the dumbest timeline.

Also of every company in th universe don't talk shit about Dominion.

[chainsaw 9857]

I have a hunch that his lawyers knew he would say all that stuff about Dominion as part of a hail mary to help Trump and they already have a concept of a plan for being sued by Dominion, including a huge up-front payment, a bottomless budget, and most importantly a pre-packaged victimhood/oppression narrative for the two most unfairly treated, unlucky SOBs ever to walk this Earth.

[Homercles 10205]

Bring on Neuralink!

[atomheartbevo 89625]

Bluesky starting to surge, some more people are leaving X (in another article), and X is allowing your data to be used for AI training.

https://techcrunch.com/2024/10/18/bluesky-surges-into-the-top-5-as-x-changes-blocks-permits-ai-training-on-its-data/

Quote

Social networking startup Bluesky, which just reported a gain of half a million users over the past day, has now soared into the top five apps on the U.S. App Store and has become the No. 2 app in the Social Networking category, up from No. 181 a week ago, according to data from app intelligence firm Appfigures. The growth is entirely organic, we understand, as Appfigures confirmed the company is not running any App Store Search Ads.

Quote

In addition, the growth is not limited to the U.S. market, either. A number of countries are showing four-digit growth in downloads, compared to last Wednesday, leading Bluesky to enter the top 10 in countries like Japan, Thailand, and Taiwan, where it’s No. 1; Hong Kong, where it’s No. 2; Canada and South Korea, where it’s No. 4; and Singapore, where it’s No. 8. 

While data on the app’s growth on Google Play is delayed, the early indications are that it’s rising there, too. At 4 a.m. EST, the app moved from No. 100 on the Android app store to No. 5 in the Social Networking category, and it is continuing to climb.

Quote

On X, users are understandably upset over the company’s decision to change how the block function operates. Soon, users with public accounts can have their X posts viewed by anyone, including those they’ve blocked, unlike before. Blocked users will only be prevented from engaging with those posts by liking, replying, and reposting, for instance. That introduces a safety issue for many who use the platform but face harassment and abuse, and for some, it was the final straw.

In addition, X updated its Terms of Service and Privacy policy this week, giving it the right to share X user data with third parties, including those companies developing AI models.

 

[Fastbreak 3980]

"I would never trust a computer" says the man trying to sell me >checks notes

Everyone knows it’s much riskier for a computer to count and total than a human. Computers get things wrong all the time. It’s why every major company in the world refuses to use computers and puts all their focus on human accounting.

[Captain Ron 12866]

Was he at the game yesterday? Probably not and that really tells me all I need to know about “Austin resident” Leon. 

[aggie08 21482]

31 minutes ago, Captain Ron said:

Was he at the game yesterday? Probably not and that really tells me all I need to know about “Austin resident” Leon. 

You'll get Joe Rogan, and you'll like it.

[Captain Ron 12866]

57 minutes ago, aggie08 said:

You'll get Joe Rogan, and you'll like it.

Hey - that guy understands sports and the gravity of what Austin is hosting this weekend. Leon doesn’t. Hell, for a  “car guy” I wonder if he would even be at the f1 race today. Doubt it. 

[Prepuce of Doom 21052]

7 minutes ago, Captain Ron said:

Hey - that guy understands sports and the gravity of what Austin is hosting this weekend. Leon doesn’t. Hell, for a  “car guy” I wonder if he would even be at the f1 race today. Doubt it. 

Oh, he'll be there and acting like a knowitall shit, I'm sure. 

[atomheartbevo 89625]

Why Musk is spending tens of millions trying to help a certain candidate  he wants control over the agencies that stand in his way.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/20/us/politics/elon-musk-federal-agencies-contracts.html?unlocked_article_code=1.T04.zPn5.SQcKhfmUxajj&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare&sgrp=ce

[Captain Ron 12866]

Remember this one?

 

I loath to link to this account, but the irony is pretty funny - musk just might be breaking the law in his efforts to influence the election.

https://wapo.st/3NA6aVQ

Quote

Billionaire Elon Musk has further escalated his direct intervention in the 2024 election in support of GOP nominee Donald Trump, announcing Saturday that he will hand out $1 million daily in a lottery for registered swing-state voters who sign a petition put out by his super PAC’s voter recruitment drive.

Legal experts questioned the legality of the move because it ties a monetary reward to voter registration status, which is expressly prohibited under federal law.

 

[Captainant 27625]

7 hours ago, atomheartbevo said:

Why Musk is spending tens of millions trying to help a certain candidate  he wants control over the agencies that stand in his way.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/20/us/politics/elon-musk-federal-agencies-contracts.html?unlocked_article_code=1.T04.zPn5.SQcKhfmUxajj&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare&sgrp=ce

That's literally just an oligarchy at work lol

[C-Man 27184]

[Nivek 16917]

7 hours ago, Captainant said:

That's literally just an oligarchy at work lol

That is really all there is to it.  The oligarchical elements exist within every society and have for a long time.  If kept in check, it can be good for the society.  When let to run amok, we get convicted con-men like Trump and his moronic children elevated to some social status.   We should have predicted this with the rise of the stupid-ass shows like Kardashians and the rise of shitbags.     

[royiv 9247]

What time is the Tesla earnings release today? I’m interested to see what the sales numbers are for the Cybertruck versus the rest of the lineup. I expect Cybertruck numbers will look good as they were working through the order book in Q3, but now that you can get one delivered immediately it seems like the future outlook may not be great. It will also be interesting to hear Elon get grilled by analysts about the robotaxi since the big release event was light on anything of substance.

[Captain Ron 12866]

1 hour ago, royiv said:

What time is the Tesla earnings release today? I’m interested to see what the sales numbers are for the Cybertruck versus the rest of the lineup. I expect Cybertruck numbers will look good as they were working through the order book in Q3, but now that you can get one delivered immediately it seems like the future outlook may not be great. It will also be interesting to hear Elon get grilled by analysts about the robotaxi since the big release event was light on anything of substance.

They host their earnings calls after hours 5:30 PM Eastern.

[royiv 9247]

20 minutes ago, Captain Ron said:

They host their earnings calls after hours 5:30 PM Eastern.

It gives the ketamine plenty of time to kick in.

[C-Man 27184]

Justice Department warns Elon Musk that his $1 million giveaway to registered voters may be illegal

https://www.cnn.com/2024/10/23/politics/elon-musk-justice-department-letter/index.html

Quote

The Justice Department warned Elon Musk’s America PAC in recent days that his $1 million sweepstakes to registered voters in swing states may violate federal law, people briefed on the matter told CNN.

Musk, who has thrown his support behind former President Donald Trump and is spending millions of dollars supporting his candidacy, has publicized the $1 million prize by his political action committee aiming to increase voter registrations in hotly contested states.

Related articleAny other CEO would have been fired for what Elon Musk just said

Musk’s initial promise to pay prizes to registered voters immediately raised concerns from election law experts and some state officials who questioned whether it ran afoul of the law.

Federal law bars paying people to register to vote. The language of the petition currently promises $1 million prizes to people chosen at random for signing a petition in support of First and Second Amendment freedoms. But to sign the petition, you must be registered to vote in specific states.

A letter from the Justice Department’s public integrity section, which investigates potential election-related law violations, went to Musk’s political action committee, according to people briefed on the matter.

CNN has reached out seeking comment from Musk, several email addresses listed on the super PAC’s website, the group’s treasurer, and Musk’s press team at the X platform.

The Justice Department declined to comment.

“We want to try to get over a million, maybe 2 million voters in the battleground states to sign the petition in support of the First and Second Amendment,” Musk said in announcing the sweepstakes at a Trump campaign event in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on Saturday. “We are going to be awarding $1 million randomly to people who have signed the petition, every day, from now until the election.”

Tech billionaire Elon Musk has recently thrown his support behind former President Donald Trump, hitting the campaign trail and pouring tens of millions of dollars into his pro-Trump superPAC. However, he continues to promote election misinformation on his social media platform X. In this episode, we examine what Musk wants out of a second Trump presidency and why his promises to voters in battleground states may violate election laws.  Guest: Phil Mattingly, CNN Chief Domestic Correspondent

After Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat and former state attorney general, said Sunday that the giveaway was “deeply concerning” and deserved legal scrutiny, Musk posted on his X platform that it was “concerning that he would say such a thing.”

In response to a post claiming Musk was “paying to register Republicans,” Musk said winners “can be from any or no political party and you don’t even have to vote.” He did not address the potential legal problem of only opening the lottery to registered voters.

On Sunday, the second day of the sweepstakes, the super PAC reframed its messaging around the giveaway, describing the money as payment for a job. In social media posts, the group said winners would be “selected to earn $1M as a spokesperson for America PAC” – and subsequently posted pro-Trump testimonial videos featuring the winners.

However, several election law experts who spoke to CNN pointed out that the fine print on Musk’s super PAC website explaining the official terms of entry did not change. Only petition signers can win the $1 million prize, and signers “must be registered voters of Arizona, Michigan, Georgia, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, or Wisconsin.”

It’s not clear when Musk received the Justice Department’s letter and whether it prompted changes to messaging around the giveaway.