Elon Musk said his now-deleted X post about how “nobody’s even trying to assassinate” President Joe Biden or Vice President Kamala Harris was meant as a joke.
The tech billionaire’s comments come as the FBI investigates an “apparent assassination” of former President Donald Trump on Sunday. Shots were fired near Trump while he was on a golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida. The suspect was arrested and charged with two federal charges: possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of a firearm with a discarded serial number. In July, a gunman died after shooting Trump in the ear in an assassination attempt during a rally in Pennsylvania.
Musk, who owns X, had posted a response to a user who had asked: “Why do they want to kill Donald Trump?” Musk, who took over X — then Twitter — in October 2022, has been known to raise debunked conspiracy theories on the platform. He has also been a staunch supporter of Trump.
His comments, which some users saw as inflammatory and inaccurate by others, drew widespread backlash on the platform, with some using the hashtag “#DeportElonMusk” to call out the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX. Musk is an immigrant to the US, originally from South Africa, and has been a vocal critic of US immigration and border policies.
Critics, including tech journalist Kara Swisher, zeroed in on Musk’s cooperation with the US government. “He is a defense contractor and has a national security clearance and tweets about violence. He needs a visit from the authorities ASAP,” Swisher wrote in a post on Threads, sharing a photo of Musk’s tweet and referring to the government-issued security clearance he reported.
On Monday, after the original post was deleted, Musk wrote: “Well, one lesson I’ve learned is that just because I say something to a group and they laugh doesn’t mean it’s as funny as X’s post. .”
“Turns out jokes are WAY less funny if people don’t know the context and the delivery is just text,” he wrote in another post to X.
Musk and X did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Monday.
It turns out that jokes are WAY less funny if people don’t know the context and the delivery is just text
– Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 16, 2024
A White House spokesman called any jokes about political assassination attempts “irresponsible.”
“As President Biden and Vice President Harris said after yesterday’s disturbing news, ‘there is no place in our country for political violence and no violence ever’ and ‘we must all do our part to make sure this incident does not lead to more. 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 running mate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz condemned the FBI’s apparent “assassination attempt” on Trump. Biden said he was relieved Trump wasn’t hurt.
On Monday, Musk also responded to Donald Trump Jr.’s message on X about the former president.
– The media and leading Democrats inciting hatred and violence against President Trump must stop, Musk wrote.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
