Conspiracy theories and a $1m check: a night at Elon Musk’s surreal election giveaway

Standing before a large US flag, which spanned the breadth of a vast stage, the world's richest man told an assembled audience that he loved them.

"This kind of energy lights a fire in my soul," he said, having just made one of the crowd a millionaire after everyone chanted his name.

His love - and that $1m - of course, was contingent on them all doing exactly as Elon Musk wanted: signing a petition tied to his political action committee (Pac) , which is dedicated to sending Donald Trump back to the White House.

The spectacle was both surreal and potentially illegal. But no one here, not least Musk himself, seemed to care in the slightest.

The billionaire was in Pittsburgh on his final stop across the vital swing state of Pennsylvania, having donated $75m to help get Trump re-elected, and seemingly willing to accept a job offer in Trump's government should he win.

Musk's latest ploy to assist Trump to attain more political power, has been to give away $1m every day to a member of the public, provided they also live in a swing state and are registered to vote.

The stunt is prohibited and akin to buying votes, in the view of some experts, as it violates federal election law preventing payments for registering to vote. The state's Democratic governor, Josh Shapiro, on Sunday described it as "deeply concerning" and encouraged law enforcement to "take a look at". Musk's America Pac did not respond to a list of questions from the Guardian after the Pittsburgh town hall.