Elon Musk said his now-deleted X-rated post that “no one is even trying to assassinate” President Joe Biden or Vice President Kamala Harris was meant to be a joke.
The tech billionaire made the comments after the FBI investigated an “apparent assassination attempt” on former President Donald Trump on Sunday. Shots were fired near Trump while he was at his golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida. The suspect was taken into custody and charged with two federal counts: possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number. In July, a gunman was killed after shooting Trump in the ear during an assassination attempt at a rally in Pennsylvania.
Elon Musk, owner of X, had posted a response to a user who asked him: “Why do they want to kill Donald Trump?” Musk, who took over X – then Twitter – in October 2022, is known for spreading debunked conspiracy theories on the platform. He has also been a vocal supporter of Trump.
His comment, which some users interpreted as a form of incitement and others deemed inaccurate, received widespread backlash on the platform, with some using the hashtag “#DeportElonMusk” to denounce Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk is an immigrant to the United States from South Africa and has been highly critical of U.S. immigration and border policies.
Critics, including a technology journalist Kara Swisher has focused on Musk’s collaborations with the U.S. government in her criticism. “He’s a defense contractor, he has a national security clearance, and he’s tweeting incitement to violence. He needs a visit from the authorities ASAP,” Swisher wrote in a Threads post, sharing an image of Musk’s tweet and referencing his government-issued security clearance.
On Monday, after deleting the initial post, Musk wrote: “Well, one lesson I learned is that just because I say something to a group and they laugh, doesn’t mean it’s going to be that hilarious as a post on X.”
“It turns out that jokes are MUCH less funny if people don’t know the context and if the text is simple,” he wrote in a second post on X.
Musk and X did not immediately respond to requests for comment Monday.
A White House spokesman called any jokes about attempted assassinations of political figures “irresponsible.”
“As President Biden and Vice President Harris said after yesterday’s disturbing news, ‘there is no place for political violence or any other violence in our country,’ and ‘we must all do our part to ensure this incident does not lead to further violence.’ Violence should only be condemned, never encouraged or joked about,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “This rhetoric is irresponsible.”
Democratic presidential candidate Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, have both condemned what the FBI called an apparent “assassination attempt” against Trump. Biden said he was relieved that Trump was unharmed.
Musk also responded Monday to a post by Donald Trump Jr. on X about the former president.
“The incitement of hatred and violence against President Trump by the media and Democratic leaders must stop,” Musk wrote.
