Caixin News on November 5th: Just as Trump and Harris are racing against each other on the last day of the "Pennsylvania battle", Musk's "million dollar lottery" case is formally being tried. At least from the evidence submitted by the lawyers in court, this thing probably has nothing to do with a "lottery".

As background, Musk announced on October 20th that his Super Political Action Committee, America PAC, will start giving away "1 million dollars to 1 person who signs a petition every day", starting that day until November 5th. According to them, this action aims to increase voter registration in the 7 swing states, without restricting which candidate the voters support.

Including the Arizona voters who received awards on November 4th, 17 people have now received checks for the "one million dollar bonus", with official promises that they will receive real money by the end of November.

Not randomly selected.

Since none of the award winners announced by America PAC support Harris, this activity has long been questioned as not a "random draw", and this doubt was finally decrypted on the eve of the election.

In the case filed by the Philadelphia District Attorney against Musk and the America PAC at the court on Monday, the political action committee's lawyer told the judge that the "Million Dollar Prize" event organized in swing states does not randomly select the "winners," but rather they are chosen to act as the "public spokesperson" for the organization to receive compensation.

Republican lawyer Chris Gober stated that who receives the money is based on the personal stories they submit. Gober said: "Winners are not randomly chosen, we know exactly who will be announced as the winner of 1 million dollars today and tomorrow."

Philadelphia area prosecutor Larry Krasner stated on Monday that "this so-called lottery is a scam," completely a political marketing disguised as a lottery. The prosecutor not only requested the judge to order the closure of this event but also expressed concerns about how Musk's political action committee handles the data submitted by voters. According to local media reports, 1 million people in the 7 battleground states have signed a petition.

Practically speaking, regardless of the judge's decision, it is already too late for Musk's activities. Firstly, tomorrow is election day, and secondly, the decision of the Pennsylvania court is unlikely to apply to other swing states.

It is worth mentioning that what caused misunderstanding was Musk himself. When announcing this event, he mentioned that the $1 million winner would be selected "randomly." However, the official webpage for submitting applications does not contain this vocabulary.

Lawyers explained that the word "randomly" Musk used in his speech does not mean selection based on probability, a point the prosecutor harshly criticized as "absurd."

Chris Young, the financial director of America PAC, also testified that he was surprised by Musk's announcement that awards would be distributed "randomly." He said: "That is not a term I would choose." He mentioned that he knew in advance who the specific winners would be and that these individuals at least knew they would be called upon at the gathering, just without a clear indication they would win.

The final day battle in Pennsylvania for Trump and Harris.

Undoubtedly, on the day of the election, the lawsuit itself has become insignificant.

While Musk's 'lottery' case was being debated in a Pennsylvania court, both Trump and Harris are putting their final day of campaigning here. This also indicates that both camps believe that the 19 electoral votes here will determine the next President of the usa.

According to the schedule, Harris will hold three events in Pennsylvania on Monday, starting in Biden's hometown of Scranton in the morning, and later hosting two rallies in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.

Trump, on the other hand, started early by hosting a morning rally in North Carolina, then swiftly moved to Pennsylvania, holding rallies in Pittsburgh and Reading. Finally, he will head to Michigan, ending his 2024 campaign in Grand Rapids - his last two presidential campaigns also ended with a rally in Grand Rapids.

By the way, Trump mentioned at his rally in North Carolina that unless Mexico implements stricter border control measures, he will impose a 25% tariff on imported commodities from the country, emphasizing that this is the first time he has announced this proposal. Of course, tariffs have always been central to Trump's foreign policy, as he previously expressed intentions to impose a 20% tariff on all imported commodities.

Editor/Lambor