Yes, Trump said Musk knows vote-counting computers ‘better than anybody’
U.S. President Donald Trump said his adviser, tech mogul Elon Musk, “knows those computers better than anybody, all those computers, those vote counting computers, and we ended up winning Pennsylvania, like, in a landslide.”
Trump did authentically produce the above quote the day before his Jan. 20, 2025, presidential inauguration. However, there is no evidence he was saying that his win in Pennsylvania was due to Musk’s purported knowledge of vote-counting computers.
In early 2025, a video spread online allegedly showing U.S. President Donald Trump stating that his adviser, tech mogul Elon Musk, knows “those computers better than anybody [ … ] those vote counting computers. And we ended up winning Pennsylvania, like, in a landslide.”
One Reddit user posted a screenshot (archived) of an X post that read: “Trump on Elon Musk: ‘He knows those computers better than anybody. All those computers. Those vote-counting computers. And we ended up winning Pennsylvania like in a landslide.'” The Reddit user added: “This doesn’t sound highly suspect or anything.”
This doesn’t sound highly suspect or anything.
byu/G-Unit11111 inWhitePeopleTwitter
The claim circulated on multiple platforms, such as Facebook, YouTube, X and TikTok (archived, archived, archived). Snopes readers also wrote in to ask us if the video was legitimate.
Some social media users claimed that Trump’s comment proved Musk interfered in and helped rig the 2024 presidential election. For example, one TikTok user said: “Trump just told on himself. He just credited Elon Musk’s knowledge of how voting machines work for his victory in Pennsylvania.”
In short, Trump did produce the quote about Musk and vote-counting computers. He said it while on stage at a victory rally in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 19, 2025. His speech was captured via livestream and is available on the president’s official YouTube channel.
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Beginning at 2:31:24, the full quote reads:
[Musk] journeyed to Pennsylvania where he spent like a month and a half campaigning for me in Pennsylvania, and he’s a popular guy, and he was very effective. And he knows those computers better than anybody, all those computers, those vote counting computers. And we ended up winning Pennsylvania like, in a landslide, so it was pretty good, it was pretty good. So, thank you to Elon.
While the quote and footage are both authentic and not the product of digital editing or artificial intelligence (AI) software, there is no evidence he was saying that his win in Pennsylvania was due to Musk’s knowledge of vote-counting computers.
Trump did thank Musk after mentioning the billionaire’s supposed expertise regarding vote-counting computers; however, the expression of gratitude came after a long passage about Musk, who had spoken on stage just moments before the president.
We have contacted Trump’s team for a comment on the claim that the quote proves Musk helped rig the election result through his alleged proficiency in vote-counting computers. We will update this article if we receive a response.
Snopes has previously reported on alleged Trump quotes, including a claim that he said “they rigged the election, and I became president,” and a rumor that he once called fallen soldiers “suckers” and “losers.”
