Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell has stoked a conspiracy theory Elon Musk used his Starlink satellite network to rig the 2024 presidential election for Trump.
During an appearance with a left-wing podcaster, Swalwell was asked about the integrity of the previous election and the role that Starlink may have played.
The host remarked:
The enemies allegedly stole U.S. data. The leak came through Elon Musk’s Starlink. I mean, I’m sure you’ve heard people, based on all of this information that’s happened since then, wonder if 2024 was secure. But more importantly, Representative, about 2026 and 2028, can you talk about that a little bit? Do you have concerns?
Swalwell, who is best known for being honey-trapped by a Chinese spy named Fang Fang, responded:
Elon Musk has done nothing in the last five months to make me think that we shouldn’t ask questions about what the hell he was doing in 2024.
Maybe we gave him too much of the benefit of the doubt, you know, after the election, but the way that he’s conducted himself with DOGE, and the way that, you know, he’s exposed us to so many hackers outside.
The way that he’s taken data, you know, from Americans, from our records — whether it’s Social Security or health care records, the only way that we can understand, you know, what the hell Elon Musk has been doing is to be in the majority.
Swalwell added that being in the majority would give Democrats “subpoena power,” which he would use to investigate the spurious allegations.
Watch the clip below:
Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) stokes 2024 election denial on a far-left podcast (check the host’s shirt) and vows to use “subpoena power” on @elonmusk about whether Starlink gave election data to the Russians if Democrats win the midterms
“Elon Musk has done nothing in the last 5… pic.twitter.com/mt35ud4OKA
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) May 1, 2025
While it is unclear exactly what Swalwell and the host are actually suggesting, many leftists theorized in the wake of his election victory that Musk’s Starlink satellite network was used to manipulate the election results.
The Telegraph explained at the time:
Left-wing conspiracy theorists have claimed the 2024 US presidential election was “stolen”, as posts falsely alleging Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite network was used to manipulate the result spread on social media.
Claims that 20m votes in the election have “disappeared” or that Starlink was used to interfere with vote-counting machines have been shared by thousands of people across X, Threads and TikTok.
A nine-minute video claiming states had used “Starlink in order to tally up or count ballots” had more than 100,000 likes, 55,000 shares and had been viewed almost 900,000 times on TikTok. The video falsely claimed: “This is why the numbers don’t make sense.”
Similar claims that Mr Musk, a Trump ally, may have used Starlink to tamper with the election have spread widely across Threads, the social network owned by Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta, as well as on X, which is owned by Mr Musk and was previously known as Twitter.
Back in March, Swalwell’s fellow California Democrat Maxine Waters shared a similar theory that Musk’s “high-technology ass “interfered with the election results.
“We don’t know everything that Elon Musk has done, with his high technology ass,” Waters said at the time.
“We don’t know what he’s been accused of by some as it may relate to the election, but we’re not going to give up in investigating and finding out.”
Election Denier Rep. Maxine Waters Suggests Elon Musk’s ‘High-Technology Ass’ May Have Tampered With Election Results (VIDEO)
