What A Day - Elon Musk's Pay-To-Play Scheme To Get Trump Elected

Episode Date: October 22, 2024

It's officially two weeks until Election Day, and SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk wants you to vote — for former President Donald Trump, obviously. In fact, Musk wants you to vote so badly that he says he’s giving out $1 million a day to people in swing states who sign his petition supporting the rights to free speech and to bear arms. It’s part of an effort to get more Republicans registered to vote. Except legal experts we spoke with — like Maryland Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin and UCLA election law professor Rick Hasen — say the whole scheme is likely illegal. Later in the show, NPR National Correspondent Sarah McCammon talks about where the white Evangelical vote stands after Roe. v. Wade was overturned.And in headlines: A major election watcher says Pennsylvania’s Senate race is now a ‘tossup,’ the group of men formerly known as the Central Park Five filed a defamation lawsuit against Trump, and the Biden Administration says it’s proposing a new rule to make private health insurers cover more contraceptives.Show Notes:Check out Sarah's reporting – https://tinyurl.com/234aj3vrSubscribe to the What A Day Newsletter – https://tinyurl.com/3kk4nyz8What A Day – YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcastFollow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday 

It's Tuesday, October 22nd. I'm Jane Koston, and this is Water Day, the show that supports the efforts of Dunedin, New Zealand, the city that has gone to war against hugs at the airport to keep traffic moving at pickups and arrivals. Thank you, Dunedin, for fighting the societal ill. Hugs have had it too good for too long. On today's show, Donald Trump might be getting sued for the words his mouth says, again. Plus, a massive expansion of contraception availability. Yay! But first, it's officially two weeks until Election Day, and Elon Musk wants you to vote. Obviously, he wants you to vote for former President Donald Trump. That's basically why Elon Musk gets out of bed, or off his bed,

or whatever hyper-technical, extremely expensive thing Elon Musk sleeps in that's basically a bed, but just called something else. In fact, he wants you to vote so badly that he's giving out money. We're going to be awarding a million dollars randomly to people who have signed the petition every day from now until the election. One million whole dollars to people who sign a petition in swing states supporting their rights to free speech and to bear arms, part of an effort to get more Republicans registered to vote. And if you're thinking, maybe I should throw my name in there

because I can't turn down the remote chance of getting one million dollars from a noted gullible weirdo, well, it might not be 100% legal. Waterday newsletter writer Matt Berg spoke with Rick Hasson, a legal scholar and election law professor at UCLA. I certainly wouldn't sign up for it because I know what the law is, and then accepting this would make you also a criminal. Hasson says Musk's scheme is illegal because federal law says you can't pay people to vote or pay them to register to vote. He says this million-dollar prize gambit steps over the legal line because you have to be a registered voter in a swing state in order to sign the petition and therefore be eligible for the prize.

It's like saying we're going to give everybody with curly hair a chance to win a million dollars. But you also have to register to vote. So registering to vote is a requirement. Maryland Democratic Representative Jamie Raskin says Musk's scheme is consistent with the MAGA party's quid pro quo politics. It's clearly creating a financial inducement to registration from a particular partisan or ideological perspective. The Harris campaign seems unfazed by the whole thing. Here's Vice Presidential nominee Tim Walz on The View Monday. Well, I think that's what you do when you have no plan for the public,

when you have no economic plan that's going to benefit the middle class, when you have no plan to protect reproductive rights, when you have no plan to address climate change and produce American energy. You go to these type of tactics. So, yeah, sure, a million dollars would be nice. But maybe try to get a million dollars through some other means other than Elon Musk's mind-bendingly cynical gambit. One group that Trump hopes will get out and vote for him in big numbers is Evangelical Christians, a centerpiece of the Republican electorate. While the word evangelical means a lot of things to a lot of different people, the political category known as white evangelicals have been building political power for decades.

And during that time have largely used the issue of abortion to unify the many right-leaning Christian factions. In the 2016 election, 81% of evangelicals voted for Donald Trump. And he repaid them by nominating the Supreme Court justices that would eventually overturn Roe vs. Wade. But with Roe gone, what's next for the politics of evangelicals? To figure out what's going on with them this election, I talked to Sarah McCammon, national political correspondent for NPR and author of The Exvangelicals, Loving, Living, and Leaving the White Evangelical Church. Sarah McCammon, welcome to What A Day. Thanks for having me. So let's set the scene a little bit here.

When we talk about evangelical voters, who are we talking about and who aren't we talking about? It kind of depends on if you're talking about the word evangelical through a theological lens or a sociological political lens. And TLDR, it's increasingly a sociological political label. But I think historically, when like journalists and academics talk about evangelicals, usually they mean mostly white, conservative, Protestant Christians, people who believe theologically that it's their mission from God to go out and tell people about Jesus to share their faith.

Since the early 1970s, since Roe itself, some white evangelicals have used ending abortion as a big cause for unification, something to fight for. I've been saying since it happened that Dobbs might've been the biggest dog that caught the car moment in American political history. So where has that movement gone post-Roe? Yeah, I've been covering this in the last couple of years and even

the last several months. And it's been really interesting to watch the messaging around abortion unfold, especially around, you know, conservative religious voters, the people who really form the basis of the movement. I mean, this was something that the anti-abortion movement spent decades working toward and got it, I think, the overturning of Roe v. Wade, in some ways faster than a lot of people predicted. You know, once it happened, it happened quickly. After Trump's election, and of course, Trump had the opportunity to choose three Supreme Court justices and the tide turned very quickly. The anti-abortion movement had already put in place a lot of conservative Republican lawmakers at the state level in as many states as possible. And so the

stage was set. Many anti-abortion laws were already on the books and they were able to take effect or in some cases be passed in response to that Supreme Court decision. What's happened as I see it in the last several months is Republican candidates and chiefly former President Trump have been faced with this situation where it's no longer theoretical. It's now real. We've seen since the overturning of Roe v. Wade, many, many cases, some of them cases I've reported on, my colleagues have reported on, of women who've been turned away for abortion care, sometimes in medical emergency situations, the kind of situations that most voters think abortion should be legal, even many Republican voters. And so it's really reshaped the debate

around this issue. Yeah, I have to ask, you know, I was raised Catholic, I'm still a Christian. And for a long time in high school, I spent a lot of time kind of doing early 2000s evangelical Christian social occasions. And so I know firsthand how critical the issue of abortion was. When you talk to evangelical youth groups, when you talk about youth outreach, when you talk about Catholics, March for Life, something I think about a lot is that I think that when I talk to people who are part of the anti-abortion movement, there was always a sense in the 2000s that they thought that not only are they correct morally, but also Americans agree with them more broadly. And what we've seen since Dobbs is that's not true. And

you see it with Trump that he's been trying to distance himself from the issue of abortion this entire election cycle. When you talk to people who are part of this coalition, I know there's been some uproar from some activists saying that they wouldn't vote for him over this issue. But how does the coalition perceive these statements? It's interesting. A lot of the major anti-abortion groups are very pragmatic, very strategic. And so groups like SBA for Life America and Students for Life of America, you know, they've expressed some level of concern about some of those statements. But they've also said generally that their leaders will still support Trump because they see him as most in line with their larger goals. So they have larger objectives that they want from a Republican president that they will not get from a Democratic president. They've sort of stuck to that pragmatic approach. But we've also heard

people like former Vice President Mike Pence criticize some of Trump's statements that appear to try to soften his position on abortion. The Southern Baptist Convention, one of their leaders, has issued similar statements expressing concern about Trump. Does this mean that they will vote for Vice President Harris? I don't think so. I mean, Pence has said he won't vote for Trump for other reasons related to January 6th. He's not said he would vote for Harris. And based on what I know about Mike Pence, I'd be surprised if he did. I was having a conversation with a colleague about this, that there may be some of these voters who have been longtime part of this coalition, not the leaders,

not the diehards, but the people who may have supported the idea of banning abortion. Well, now that some states have actually enacted near total bans, and they're hearing more people talking about total bans, they're feeling more conflicted about it. Is that something that you're hearing a little bit or no? I haven't met anyone like that. It doesn't mean it doesn't exist. I've spent a lot of time in the last few months reporting on efforts specifically focused on former Republicans or conservative independents, people who might have voted for Trump in the past, efforts by the Harris campaign and her allies to win over those voters. And, you know, I've asked them about this issue of abortion. And, you know, some of them say, look, we feel like saving democracy, which we see Trump as a threat to, that's the

priority. I talked to one woman in Pennsylvania who is co-chairing the Republicans for Harris efforts. And she said, I consider myself pro-life. I always have, I still do. But saving democracy is more important. And she told me that she wasn't happy with where the pro-life movement is today. I don't want to put words in her mouth. And I think what she was indicating was that it's sort of, you know, insufficiently concerned with some of the. And so many of these laws that have been passed go far beyond what even some people who call themselves pro-life would support. And I think that, again, puts pressure on Republican politicians like Trump to defend those policies, to explain those policies, and to try to reassure voters they're not going to push any farther. The reality, though, is that if Trump is elected, the Supreme Court, of course, is dominated by conservative justices. It's already shown repeated willingness to restrict access to abortion. And Trump would likely choose agency heads that share that philosophy, that share the philosophy of his

base. That's what he did in the past. And there's no reason to think he wouldn't do so again. Sarah, thank you so much for joining me. Thank you so much. Good to be here. That was my conversation with Sarah McCammon, national political correspondent for NPR and author of The Exvangelicals, Loving, Living, and Leaving the White Evangelical Church. We'll get to the news in a moment,

but if you like the show, make sure to subscribe, leave a five-star review on Apple Podcasts, watch us on YouTube, and share with your friends. More to come after some ads. And now, the news. You know, I've said many times, I do believe Donald Trump to be an unserious man, but the consequences of him ever being in the White House again are brutally serious. Vice President Kamala Harris did a series of country-over-party events on Monday in

Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin. The conversations covered the gamut, the Capitol riot, health care, election anxiety, and foreign relations. During these events, Harris sat down with Republican powerhouse and former representative Liz Cheney to talk about their unlikely alliance and the issues at stake this election. During the Michigan Conversation, moderated by journalist and author Maria Shriver, Harris spoke about the rise in school shootings and how when she grew up they had fire drills in school, but nowadays children have active shooter drills too.

Harris also recounted a story a student shared with her. One kid said to me, yeah, we were talking about this, and said to me, yeah, that's why I don't like going to fifth period. I said, why, sweetheart? Why don't you like going to fifth period? Because in that classroom, there's no closet in which to hide. No student should be worried

about a classroom because there are no closets to hide in. Just like the presidential race, some key races for the Senate are also getting a lot tighter as we get closer to Election in. Just like the presidential race, some key races for the Senate are also getting a lot tighter as we get closer to Election Day. On Monday, the Cook Political Report changed its rating for Pennsylvania Senate race from lean Democrat to a toss-up. The race pits incumbent Democratic Senator Bob Casey against Republican Dave McCormick, a former hedge fund executive. Other races in Cook's toss-up column, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin, all seats currently

held by Democrats. Hawaii Democratic Senator Brian Schatz recently spoke with Pod Save America. Schatz isn't up for election this year, but he says if Harris wins the White House, she'll need a Democratic majority in the Senate to help her get things done. And he encouraged Democrats nationwide to volunteer in these tight, rust-a-bout races. There are a couple of places where it's close enough and the turnout operations matter enough. And they are sophisticated enough where you could take a person from, you know, who lives in Santa Monica or lives in, you know, South Texas and just wants to help. And they get on that online phone banking thing and they actually make a difference. So I would still help in the Midwest, both by sending money and by either showing up physically or making

phone calls. Republicans only need to unseat two Democrats in order to win back the Senate majority. They're widely expected to pick up the open West Virginia seat being vacated by Democrat Joe Manchin, and as of now, favored to unseat Democrat John Tester in Montana. You can listen to the full interview with Senator Schatz on the latest episode of Pod Save America, wherever you get your podcasts. The group of men formerly known as the Central Park Five filed a defamation lawsuit on Monday against former President Donald Trump for comments he made during the presidential debate against Vice President Kamala Harris. Going back many, many years when a lot of people, including Mayor Bloomberg, agreed with me on the Central Park Five, they admitted,

they said they pled guilty. And I said, well, if they pled guilty, they'd badly hurt a person, killed a person ultimately. For the record, no one died. The men, who are black and Latino, were accused of sexually assaulting and physically assaulting a jogger in 1989 and coerced by police into making false confessions. They were exonerated in 2002 when the actual attacker confessed to the crime. At the time of their initial arrest, Donald Trump infamously took out a full-page ad in the New York Times calling for their execution. Because of course he did. The Biden administration says it's proposing a new rule under the Affordable Care Act to make

private health insurance cover condoms and over-the-counter birth control at no cost to patients and without a prescription. The new rule, announced Monday, would also cover emergency contraception and spermicides. Health and Human Services Secretary Javier Becerra says it's the largest expansion of access to contraceptives in more than a decade. This rule is a straightforward acknowledgement by this administration, once again by President Biden and Vice President Harris, that every American should have access to the health care that they need. And everyone should get to make the determination themselves. The rule change isn't in effect yet. It has to go through a 60-day public comment period first. But it comes just two weeks before the election, and as voters name

abortion and reproductive rights among their top issues when it comes to who will get their vote. And that's the news. One more thing. We've been focused a lot on national races, but in the next two weeks before the election, we're going to talk to folks running for state legislature. Today, we're headed to North Carolina in the race to represent State House District 105, which includes parts of the city of Charlotte and surrounding areas. The district is currently represented by Republican Tricia Cotham. But House District 105 wasn't always Republican. The district was redrawn last year, and Cotham wasn't always a Republican. She was actually elected as a Democrat in 2022.

She announced she was switching her party affiliation last year, because Democrats like having meetings. Now where we are, modern day Democratic Party has become unrecogn to get to work to better our state, not just sit in a meeting and have a workshop after a workshop? I personally love workshops. Kotham Switch handed Republicans the one seat that they needed to control both the state House and Senate, a supermajority that gave them the power to override any veto from Democratic Governor Roy Cooper. Republicans hope to keep control in the House and expand their power to the governorship now that Governor Cooper has hit his term limit. Democrats are eager to take back the seat and prevent the GOP from achieving a legislative trifecta come November. One of those Democrats is Cotham's Democratic challenger,

Nicole Sidman. Nicole, thanks for coming on Water Day. Thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited to be here. You're running against Tricia Cotham, the incumbent representative who switched parties from Democrat to Republican last year. It was huge news because it gave the GOP a veto-proof supermajority in your state.

What was your reaction to that moment in 2023? So when she switched, it was still big news because whether she represents my district or not, you know, it impacted all of us. So knowing that it was going to now give the GOP the supermajority and having already lived in North Carolina during a GOP supermajority, we knew what was to come. She had run for a decade on protecting reproductive rights. So I think at a moment, people thought maybe she would at least stand by those values, but it became pretty clear that she

was going back on everything she'd said for the last decade. What made you decide to run against her? I was a former campaign manager, so I knew what it meant to be a candidate and I knew what it took to run. I'd stepped away from politics to do more community advocacy and community work and service. But when I realized that the new maps had been filed and accepted and that my neighborhood was part of this new, incredibly gerrymandered district for Tricia Cotham, I just had to do everything I could to make sure that she did not get returned to Raleigh. You mentioned that her decision had a big impact on your community. Can you tell us a little bit more about how the GOP has used that power to push the party's agenda over the past year?

What impact has that had on the everyday lives of folks living around you? I know specifically of one woman. She was pregnant with her third child. She desperately wanted this child. She had a terrible miscarriage and the doctors couldn't help her because she was past this 12 week abortion ban. And so they had to wait till she was basically bleeding out until they could say that her life was truly enough at risk to go ahead and save her. So it's those kind of stories that I'm hearing where I know that this radical agenda of the GOP is not what's best for North Carolina and not what North Carolina wants. They have also really gutted our funding for our public schools, just putting hundreds of millions of dollars to private school vouchers and taking away taxpayer dollars from public schools.

And that's really going to have a terrible impact in the coming years. You've already mentioned abortion. You've talked about education. What are some other issues North Carolinians are thinking about as they get ready to vote? Well, I mean, I think like any community, we care mostly about our neighborhoods and our safety and our economy. We talk about access to reproductive health care, but also health care and expanding Medicaid and talking about how to get prices down

and access to doctors and nurses because there's a real shortage and a problem with that. People care a lot about the economy and we talk about what makes a strong economy both in Charlotte and in North Carolina. And then also just straight up democracy, talking about what it means to live in a really gerrymandered district that was drawn to benefit just one person and how that makes people feel as far as having their voice and their vote really taken away. As you've mentioned, Cotham is said to have an advantage in House District 105 because it's been redrawn. The district leans for the Republican. How are you and your campaign organizing to get people to the polls in these final days leading up to the election?

Well, we have been organizing since January. Right now, we're really focusing on talking to people at the polls. Early voting started last week, so people are already voting. We're talking to people at their doors, making sure that they know early voting has started and where to vote and just having those conversations. Nicole, thank you so much for joining me. It was my pleasure. Thank you so much for having me. That was my conversation with Nicole Sidman, the Democratic candidate running to represent North Carolina's 105th State House District. Before we go, with a pivotal election approaching, the battle between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris isn't just a U.S. issue, it's a turning point for global politics. In a special weekly series, Ben Rhodes breaks down how the foreign policy stakes shift dramatically depending on who wins. And in the latest episode, he explores how their victories

could impact the Middle East, Israel, and Gaza. You can find the series every Saturday until November 5th in your Pod Save the World feed or on YouTube. That's all for today. If you like the show, make sure to subscribe, leave a review, don't fall for Elon Musk's cash-for-vote scheme, and tell your friends to listen. And if you're into reading and not just thinking about how evangelicalism has become a political category that increasingly applies to people who, according to polling, do not believe Jesus Christ is God, like me,

well, today's also a nightly newsletter. Check it out and subscribe at crooked.com slash subscribe. I'm Jane Koston, and no more hugs. No more. Mm-mm. What A Day is a production of Crooked Media. It's recorded and mixed by Desmond Taylor. Our associate producer is Raven Yamamoto.

Our producer is Michelle Aloy. We had production help today from Tyler Hill, Johanna Cates, Joseph Dutra, Greg Walters, and Julia Clare. Our senior producer is Erica Morrison, and our executive producer is Adrienne Hill. Our theme music is by Colin Gillyard and Kashaka. Bye.