Elon Musk has claimed that New York City’s election ballots are a scam, laying the groundwork to falsely suggest a victory by Democrat firebrand Zohran Mamdani must be rigged.
As Americans headed to the polls across four different states on Tuesday, the world’s richest man began sowing doubt about the validity of Tuesday’s most-watched contest: the race to become the new mayor of the nation’s most populous city.
The move came as 34-year-old Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani appeared on track to beat his party establishment opponent, former Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo.
But in a post on his social media platform on Tuesday, Musk melted down over the ballot paper for the mayoral election, telling his nearly 229 million followers: “The New York City ballot form is a scam!”
“No ID is required. Other mayoral candidates appear twice. Cuomo’s name is last in bottom right,” he lamented.
Musk’s comments came after the Tesla chief publicly endorsed Cuomo for his independent bid, not long after Donald Trump did so on Sunday during a 60 Minutes interview.
If elected, Mamdani would become New York City’s first Muslim mayor. While his youth and progressive ideals are viewed by some Democrats as a much-needed renewal of the party, critics view his socialist politics, religion and meteoric rise as an existential threat.
But Musk was immediately rebuked for claiming the ballots were a scam, with voters, experts, and political observers fact checking him on his own platform.
“Elon is truly the dumbest smart person ever,” wrote professor and policy analyst Adam Cochran.
“Your ID is not required because your information is checked against the voter role. Candidates appear on the ballot for each eligible party that endorses them. (For Mamdani this was Dems and WFP.) Cuomo is last in the bottom right because he made a brand new party to run as no one wanted to endorse him.”
Musk’s comments were a page straight out Trump’s 2020 playbook. In the lead up to the election that he lost to Joe Biden, Trump spent months insisting that mail-in ballots were rigged and used that lie to later push the falsehood that the election was “stolen”.
He made similar claims ahead of last year’s election but ultimately beat Kamala Harris, winning back the White House, both houses of Congress, and all seven battleground states.
But Tuesday’s four elections, which also include two Governor races in Virginia and New Jersey and a vote in California to change Congressional district boundaries, come amid growing anger over issues such as cost-of-living pressures, immigration raids, the government shutdown and presidential over-reach.
To that end, the races will gauge how voters feel about Trump’s second term, and whether Democrats have improved their standings since losing the election.
Trump endorsed Cuomo during a 60 Minutes interview on Sunday night, and doubled down on Monday, saying that New Yorkers “must vote for” the disgraced former governor.
He added that would become an “Economic and Social Disaster” if the Democratic nominee triumphs on Tuesday, as polling indicates is likely.
“If Communist Candidate Zohran Mamdani wins the Election for Mayor of New York City, it is highly unlikely that I will be contributing Federal Funds, other than the very minimum as required, to my beloved first home, because of the fact that, as a Communist, this once great City has ZERO chance of success, or even survival!” Trump wrote.
Musk echoed the president’s view, that supporting the city’s Republican mayoral nominee, Curtis Sliwa, would only boost Mamdani’s chances.
“Remember to vote tomorrow in New York! Bear in mind that a vote for Curtis is really a vote for Mumdumi or whatever his name is,” Musk said in a post on Monday. “VOTE CUOMO!”
As voters headed to the polls on Tuesday, Trump claimed without evidence that Mamdani was a “jew hater.”
“Any Jewish person that votes for Zohran Mamdani, a proven and self professed JEW HATER, is a stupid person!!!” he wrote.
