Wisconsin Democratic Party chair Ben Wikler shredded Elon Musk on Friday over the billionaire’s since-deleted post claiming he’d give millions of dollars to select voters amid a high-profile state Supreme Court race.
“He knows that that tweet was a crime, and it’s still a crime in Wisconsin law. It is plain as day,” Wikler told Ben Meiselas of the MeidasTouch Network.
“You cannot promise something of value in order to induce someone to vote or refrain from voting. This is Wisconsin statute, and it’s a felony to cross that line.”
Musk took to his X platform, formerly Twitter, early Friday morning to declare that he’d “personally hand over” $1 million each to two people who voted in the state election.
On Friday, Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul (D) filed a lawsuit against Musk and his America PAC over the billionaire’s offer, calling it an “egregious attempt to buy votes” and a “blatant attempt” to violate state law.
Earlier this month, his political action committee offered registered Wisconsin voters $100 if they signed a petition against “activist judges.”
The billionaire used a nearly similar tactic to boost voter registration ahead of the 2024 presidential election last year.
Musk’s since-deleted post arrives days before Wisconsin voters head to the polls on Tuesday to vote in what’s been called the most expensive judicial race in U.S. history.
Musk-supported groups have spent over $20 million to support conservative candidate Brad Schimel, a former state attorney general, against Democratic-backed candidate Dane County Court Judge Susan Crawford.
Musk took to X on Friday afternoon to “clarify” that he was giving $1 million checks to “spokesmen” for his group’s petition.
Wikler called on Musk to be “brought to justice” over his post, adding that Americans shouldn’t accept “vote buying” in a democracy.
“This is not an edge case. This is a central question for whether we’re going to survive as a democracy or whether the richest man in the world will be able to pay people in order to get them to vote,” he said.
“And we need to make absolutely clear that this will not be accepted in Wisconsin or anywhere else across this country.”
