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The FBI is investigating what appears to be another assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.
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Elon Musk then posted X asking why there have been no assassination attempts on Biden or Harris.
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Musk later deleted the post, saying people had misinterpreted what he thought was a joke.
Elon Musk is facing backlash after a controversial comment he made on social media at X following former President Donald Trump’s apparent second assassination attempt.
In the now-deleted message, Musk questioned why there have been no assassination attempts on President Joe Biden or Vice President Kamala Harris. Musk later said he learned from the message when an X user told him it had been misinterpreted.
The remarks came after shots were fired near Trump’s golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida on Sunday. The FBI is now investigating what it says appears to be another assassination attempt on Trump.
Just two months earlier, Trump narrowly escaped being killed when a gunman opened fire during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania.
Musk’s message was met with backlash at X.
“If someone shoots Biden or Harris or Walz after two registered Republicans shot Trump and Musk posted this crazy tweet, we have to consider Musk’s role in that kind of violence,” AI expert Gary Marcus said in response to Musk’s since-deleted post. “Elon is not well.”
Other users condemned the post as “appalling and indefensible”, “irresponsible” and “dangerous”.
Musk is no stranger to sharing controversial comments about X, and some of his posts have been cited as one reason why advertisers have been slow to return to X.
For example, earlier this month, the billionaire removed an X post promoting Tucker Carlson’s interview with a man accused of being a “Nazi apologist.”
This time, Musk seems to have admitted that he may have gone too far.
Despite Musk initially wanting to remove the comment, he later responded to User X who suggested he remove the post and reworded it because it was misinterpreted.
“Fair. I don’t want to do what they’ve done, even jokingly,” Musk wrote in response.
Musk later reflected on the episode, saying it had taught him a lesson.
“It turns out that jokes are WAY less funny if people don’t know the context and the delivery is just text,” Musk wrote in a follow-up post.
Well, one lesson I’ve learned is that just because I say something to a group and they laugh doesn’t mean it’s going to be as funny as the post đť•Ź
– Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 16, 2024
Representatives for Musk, Biden and Harris did not immediately respond to requests for comment outside regular business hours.
Musk has supported Trump in the 2024 election and publicly criticized both Harris and Biden. Trump has also expressed the idea of ​​having the billionaire in his government, calling him “smart” and a “great guy.”
Musk has previously expressed interest in serving on a potential government efficiency commission if Trump wins the election.
Read the original article on Business Insider
