Elon Musk deleted a post overnight that questioned why former US President Donald Trump has faced two apparent assassination attempts in recent months while President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have not encountered any.
Musk later claimed the post was a joke.
“And no one is even trying to assassinate Biden/Kamala 🤔,” Musk wrote in the now-deleted X post.
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Musk initially resisted numerous calls throughout Sunday night to delete the post. In one post responding to a demand to take down his remarks, Musk doubled down: “No one has even tried to do so is the point I’m making and no one will.”
But Musk was ultimately persuaded by an X post that said Musk’s “obvious intent” may be misinterpreted.
“Fair enough. I don’t want to do what they have done, even in jest,” Musk responded. He later posted several times that the deleted post had been a joke.
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However, Musk subsequently responded to a similar post, replying with a thinking face emoji to a photo that noted the four presidents who preceded Trump faced no assassination attempts when Trump has apparently encountered two. X did not respond to a request for comment.
The White House called Musk’s comments “irresponsible.”
“As President Biden and Vice President Harris said after yesterday’s disturbing news, ‘there is no place for political violence or for any violence ever in our country,’ and ‘we all must do our part to ensure that this incident does not lead to more violence,'” said White House spokesperson Andrew Bates in a statement.
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“Violence should only be condemned, never encouraged or joked about.”
CNN requested comment from the Secret Service, which is tasked with investigating perceived threats against the president and vice president – sometimes even if they are made in jest. The Secret Service in 2021 investigated a joke comedian John Mulaney made on “Saturday Night Live” comparing Trump to Julius Cesar, who was assassinated.
It’s unclear if Musk, who owns X, violated X’s terms of service with those posts. He has routinely flouted his platform’s rules with few consequences. X said it restricts “engaging in or promoting violent acts,” although Musk denied he was calling for violence.
Musk endorsed Trump for president after an assassination attempt in July, and he hosted Trump last month in an interview on X.
It’s part of a rightward shift for Musk that has gained steam in recent years. Musk, the richest person in the world, decries what he calls progressives’ “woke mind virus.” And he has warned of America’s impending “doom” if Democrats maintain control of the White House.
But Musk’s posts aren’t just run-of-the-mill political chatter. He has increasingly engaged in conspiracy theories, including the false claim that the Biden administration allows undocumented immigrants to vote in US elections.
He has also pushed the boundaries – or blown right past them – by posting fake images and using bigoted language in support of his causes.
For example, Musk has posted numerous AI-generated images of Harris, including depicting her speaking before a crowd filled with communist imagery and symbols. And after Taylor Swift endorsed Harris for president that she signed “childless cat lady,” Musk responded with a widely criticised post: “Fine Taylor … you win … I will give you a child and guard your cats with my life.”
It’s the latest illustration of how few guardrails exist on the X platform.
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