Elon Musk deleted a post on Monday morning that questioned why former 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 threats. Musk later claimed the post was intended as a joke.
In the now-deleted X post, Musk had written, “And no one is even trying to assassinate Biden/Kamala 🤔.” Initially, Musk resisted calls to delete the post, responding to demands by asserting, “No one has even tried to do so is the point I’m making and no one will.”
However, Musk was eventually persuaded by an X post suggesting that his intent might be misinterpreted. He replied, “Fair enough. I don’t want to do what they have done, even in jest.” He later reiterated that the deleted post was meant as a joke.
Despite this, Musk responded to a similar post by using a thinking face emoji in reaction to a photo noting that the four presidents preceding Trump had not faced assassination attempts, while Trump had faced two.
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The White House criticized Musk’s comments as “irresponsible.” White House spokesperson Andrew Bates stated, “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.’ Violence should only be condemned, never encouraged or joked about.”
The Secret Service acknowledged seeing Musk’s deleted post but declined to comment on any actions it might take. A spokesman said, “As a matter of practice, we do not comment on matters involving protective intelligence. We can say, however, that the Secret Service investigates all threats related to our protectees.”
The Secret Service investigates perceived threats against the president and vice president, even if they are made in jest. For example, in 2021, the agency investigated a joke by comedian John Mulaney on “Saturday Night Live” comparing Trump to Julius Caesar.
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It is unclear whether Musk’s posts violated X’s terms of service. X restricts “engaging in or promoting violent acts,” but Musk has previously disregarded platform rules with minimal consequences. He has denied that his posts incite violence.
Musk, who owns X, endorsed Trump for president after a July assassination attempt and interviewed him last month on X. This aligns with Musk’s rightward shift in recent years. Musk, the world’s richest person, has criticized what he terms progressives’ “woke mind virus” and warned of impending “doom” if Democrats retain control of the White House.
Musk’s posts often delve into conspiracy theories and controversial statements, including false claims about undocumented immigrants voting in U.S. elections. He has also faced criticism for posting fake images and using bigoted language in support of his causes, such as posting AI-generated images of Harris with communist imagery and responding to Taylor Swift’s endorsement of Harris with a widely criticized comment.
This episode highlights the lack of stringent moderation on the X platform.
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