Elon Musk is set to attend Donald Trump’s campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, marking an even deeper show of the billionaire’s support for the former president and his shift to the right.
It’s a significant location, as Trump is returning to the scene of the July assassination attempt. “I will be there to support!” Musk said on X about the rally. Trump’s campaign also confirmed the appearance in a news release.
Musk had once been careful to avoid openly suggesting he favored one political candidate over another. But he has actively embraced and amplified more right-wing viewpoints in the past few years, donating large sums to Republican candidates and taking on increasingly radical viewpoints. He officially endorsed Trump in July, after gunshots broke out at his Pennsylvania campaign rally that killed one attendee and injured two others.
The former president has said that if reelected, he would appoint Musk to lead a government efficiency commission. Musk later responded: “I look forward to serving America if the opportunity arises. No pay, no title, no recognition is needed.”
Musk’s shift to the right follows a broader trend of high-profile people in Silicon Valley throwing their support behind Trump. While the vast majority of Silicon Valley is likely still voting Democrat, a number of notable venture capitalists and tech executives are now backing Trump and pointing to issues in San Francisco and the broader Bay Area that they attribute to left-wing policies.
For example, investor and Trump booster David Sacks exaggeratedly blamed “Democrat rule” for turning San Francisco into “a cesspool of crime, homeless encampments, and open drug use,” during his remarks at the Republican National Convention.