Elon Musk Dragged Into Court As $1M ‘Unlawful Lottery’ Sweepstakes Lawsuit Over Trump Petition Moves Forward

Elon Musk must face allegations that he defrauded voters with a $1 million sweepstakes tied to a pro-Donald Trump petition before the 2024 U.S. presidential election, a federal judge ruled Wednesday.

U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman in Austin, Texas, said Arizona resident Jacqueline McAferty plausibly alleged she was misled into believing winners would be randomly chosen, when in fact they were handpicked as spokespeople for Musk’s America PAC, Bloomberg reported. 

Pitman allowed her fraud and breach of contract claims to proceed but dismissed a claim under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act.

McAferty said she would not have signed the petition or shared her personal information if she knew the contest wasn’t random. 

The Philadelphia district attorney also sought to shut down the sweepstakes as an “unlawful lottery,” but a judge allowed it to continue. Musk’s team acknowledged that winners were selected from swing states and signed contracts with the PAC.

The lawsuit comes as Musk has quietly backed away from launching a new “America Party” after concluding it could strain ties with the Republicans and Vice President JD Vance. 

The billionaire, who spent nearly $300 million backing Trump and Republicans in 2024, has instead signaled he will focus on his businesses while keeping close ties with GOP leaders.

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment for Elon Musk–led Tesla was ‘bearish’ amid ‘low’ message volume, while sentiment for his other company SpaceX was ‘bullish’ with ‘normal’ activity.

Tesla’s stock has declined nearly 20% so far in 2025.

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