Elon Musk says people accusing Trump of endangering democracy are the real danger

The world's richest man, Elon Musk, addressed a crowded town hall Saturday in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, where he downplayed the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol riot and suggested mail ballots were a "recipe for fraud."

In response to a man who asked Musk what his message was to young voters who worry "that voting for a second Trump presidency will lead to democratic backsliding," Musk replied, "The media tries to characterize Jan. 6 as some sort of violent insurrection, which is simply not the case," he said, prompting applause from the crowd. More than 100 law enforcement personnel were injured in the attack, some beaten with their own weapons, when a mob of Trump supporters who believed his lies that the 2020 election was stolen from him stormed the Capitol to stop the certification of votes.

"It's not as though the Jan. 6 protests had no merit, they had some merit," Musk continued. "I disagree with the magnitude of what they did, but it's not as though there were no issues," said Musk.