(NewsNation) — Elon Musk announced he plans to give away $1 million a day to voters who sign his political action committee’s petition backing the Constitution.
The PAC’s petition supports the First Amendment, which protects freedom of speech, and the Second Amendment, with its right “to keep and bear arms.” Notably, a person must be registered to vote to sign it.
Musk, a fervent Donald Trump supporter, has come under fire from the legal world about this latest move.
Bruce Castor, Pennsylvania’s former attorney general, tells “Dan Abrams Live” that the Tesla billionaire and X owner is toeing the line of legality with this move, calling it a “back door way” to pay people to vote.
“I think it’s questionable, certainly under Pennsylvania law, the definition of what what’s called a lottery is is pretty broad,” he explained.
Castor laid out the three main issues with Musks’ promise:
- It enhances voter registration with financial incentive, both a federal and state issue
- Running a lottery threatens states’ monopoly on the game
- The billionaire’s actions could be interpreted as a way to influence the election
Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, also a former AG for the Keystone State, expressed concern about the plan Sunday.
“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. That is deeply concerning,” he said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
Castor pointed out that Shapiro was careful with his words “because he’s not sure either.”
“I would hope that Mr. Musk would would reconsider doing these sorts of things. It doesn’t look good. It has a bad vibe about it, and maybe we ought to be focusing on issues and not gimmicks,” Castor said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
