Elon Musk embraces noncitizen voting ban, suggest opponents of proposed law are ‘traitors’

Elon Musk heartily endorsed a bill proposed by House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., that seeks to ensure that only American citizens can vote in federal elections. Musk said in a tweet that people who oppose the bill are “TRAITORS.”

The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, originally pushed by Rep. Chip Roy, R-Tx., was announced at a press conference by Johnson in Mar-a-Lago, Fla., earlier in the year.   

Johnson circulated a memo among members of the House GOP conference in the days leading up to the Fourth of July recess. On Friday, he continued making the case for the bill on X, formerly Twitter, the social media platform owned by Musk.

"The SAVE Act will safeguard our elections by ensuring only American citizens vote in federal elections," Johnson said. He then followed up with a series of posts on X explaining the legislation.  

He said the bill requires state election officials to ask about citizenship before giving voter registration forms to applicants, and the applicants must provide proof of citizenship before being allowed to register to vote in federal elections. It also authorizes the Department of Homeland Security to determine whether removal proceedings are appropriate for noncitizens who have registered to vote in federal elections.

Musk retweeted Johnson’s posts and declared, "Those who oppose this are traitors. All Caps: TRAITORS," he said. "What is the penalty for traitors again?"

The penalty for people guilty of treason is death or death to be imprisoned for no less than five years, Fox Business reported. There is also a fine of no less than $10,000 and to be barred from ever holding office in the U.S.