Elon and Maye Musk
Elon Musk and his mother, model Maye Musk, ham it up at the 2022 Met Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York Getty Images/Angela Weiss/AFP

Billionaire Elon Musk's mother urged Americans to vote 100 times using "fake names," and falsely claimed "it's not illegal" before walking back the bad advice — without removing it from the internet.

In a message on her son's social media site X, Maye Musk reposted a message in which Elon Musk said, "Super important to get all your friends and family to register to vote."

She then noted in her own post Saturday: "The Democrats have given us another option. You don't have to register to vote. On Election Day, have 10 fake names, go to 10 polling booths and vote 10 times. That's 100 votes, and it's not illegal."

A "community note" attached to the post warned readers, "This is, in fact, illegal."

Under the U.S. Code, voting more than once in a federal election is a felony punishable by up to five years in prison and a maximum $10,000 fine.

It's unclear if Musk has ever voted, given how easy she imagines it would be to vote in an American election using ten fake names. Musk says she became an American citizen after an extraordinary amount of paperwork that was "madness."

Maye Musk posted her message hours before Elon Musk appeared onstage with former President Donald Trump during a campaign rally at the same site in Pennsylvania where Trump's ear was shot during a July 13 assassination attempt.

Maye Musk — a 76-year-old model, dietician and author with 1.1 million X followers — retracted her comments three hours after making them but didn't delete the message.

"In Butler, Pennsylvania, we just heard that the Republicans will make sure no illegals vote. Ignore my previous post," she wrote.

Critics had some thoughts.

Maye Musk
Maye Musk poses at an event in New York City on May 16, 2024. Michael Loccisano/Getty Images