Tech mogul Elon Musk, speaking at a town hall on Saturday night in Pennsylvania to support Republican Donald Trump, played down the January 6 attack on the US Capitol and exhorted supporters to cast votes early in the presidential swing state while describing mail ballots as a “recipe for fraud”.

The freewheeling session inside a ballroom at a hotel in downtown Lancaster touched on a dizzying range of topics, from space exploration and the Tesla cybertruck to immigration and the efficacy of psychiatric drugs. The town hall was part of Musk’s efforts through his super PAC to help boost Trump in swing states ahead of the November 5 presidential election against Democrat Kamala Harris.