Opinion: Musk's millions are an empty bid for attention as he tries to boost Trump

Elon Musk has finally found his place in American politics as the overeager face of the closing argument for Donald Trump's presidential bid.

Musk is a pitchman able to draw attention, which he clearly covets as much as Trump, but look closely and you can see that what he offers in oversized cardboard checks for $1 million doesn't have much value.

Musk has inspired a multiday wave of legal analysis in his odd Pennsylvania sweepstakes of sorts, offering $1 million to registered voters who'll sign a petition from his political action committee in support of the First and Second Amendments.

Yes, it is against federal law to pay someone to register to vote or cast a ballot. But the first three people who "won" the America PAC sweepstakes were already registered to vote in Pennsylvania and had already cast their general election ballots before Musk's odd little circus thrust them into the center ring.

The real value here is how Musk has so incisively – if unintentionally – encapsulated just how vapid the closing days of Trump's reelection campaign have become.

Musk donated $75 million to Trump through America PAC

That's not to say Musk isn't actually helping Trump. America PAC has raised $83.7 million this year and 90% of that, to the tune of nearly $75 million, came from Musk.

The PAC is spending it almost as fast as it comes in on get-out-the-vote efforts for Trump and down-ballot advocacy for and against members of Congress.

Will that work? Trump has trailed Vice President Kamala Harris in fundraising, so any help with field work means something. But there are signs that Musk's operation isn't exactly fine-tuned.

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Getting far more attention is Musk's flashy road show in Pennsylvania with the cardboard checks. A group of former Republican legislators, prosecutors and consultants asked U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland on Monday to investigate Musk's big cash giveaways, arguing that they might violate federal law.

Federal election law says: "Whoever knowingly or willfully … pays or offers to pay or accepts payment either for registration to vote or for voting shall be fined not more than $10,000 or imprisoned not more than five years, or both."

But that would not seem to apply to the first lucky three voters picked by Musk.

Will Musk have any impact on undecided voters?

Even if the Department of Justice bit here, nothing is going to happen in public in the final two weeks of a presidential campaign. I doubt much would come from it later, too. It's not like Trump will sic the Justice Department on a rich ally. I'm not sure Harris would, either.

Which makes this nothing but a talker.

So that's what Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Harris' running mate, did. He told talk show hosts on "The View" Monday that Musk's splashy money play for Trump shows that the former one-term president has no actual plans to help middle-class voters.

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Let's not pretend that Harris is above splashy, attention-seeking events. Bruce Springsteen will be playing concerts to support her presidential campaign in Atlanta on Thursday and in Philadelphia on Monday, with former President Barack Obama attending.

That might lack the razzle-dazzle of a cardboard check. Maybe that's by design. The concerts seem more likely to stir the Democratic Party base than to persuade undecided voters to tip toward Harris.

In that way, it's kind of like what Musk is doing.

Musk and Trump are desperate for attention as Election Day nears

Bruce Castor, a former acting Pennsylvania attorney general who also represented Trump in his second impeachment, agreed with me that not much will come of the squabble about Musk's millions before Election Day. He's not sure there's much political payoff here either that "moves the needle at all."

"That it is any sort of crime is a stretch on account of a lack of criminal intent," Castor told me. "It might violate some strict liability election laws that carry fines, the max of which will be small."

Unprompted, he compared the Musk sweepstakes to Trump's visit Sunday to a McDonald's in suburban Philadelphia, closed for the afternoon so the Republican presidential nominee could hand out fast food to prescreened supporters at the drive-thru window. Castor called that "a hoot."

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Trump, born wealthy and weaned on millions from his father's successful real estate business, never had to work that kind of job. But he has fixated on how Harris describes a summer working McDonald's shifts during college, insisting – without a speck of proof, of course – that she somehow conjured up the whole story.

Maybe he just can't imagine living that kind of life. But here we find another example of Trump's closing argument – and, apologies here to William Shakespeare and his fans – full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.

Harris has wisely avoided playing into Trump's McDonald's trap. Let him talk about nothing as the days wind down and the votes roll in. He and Musk are well-suited to seek the most vapid attention out there. Let them have it.

Follow USA TODAY elections columnist Chris Brennan on X, formerly known as Twitter: @ByChrisBrennan

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Opinion: Is it illegal for Elon Musk to pay you to vote for Trump?