Elon Musk has once again stirred controversy after Secret Service agents managed to avert an assassination attempt on Donald Trump yesterday with an ‘appalling’ post on his social media platform X.
Responding to a post that asked: ‘Why they want to kill Donald Trump?’, Musk provocatively remarked: ‘And no one is even trying to assassinate Biden or Kamala,’ in reference to the current President and Vice President.
The post sparked immediate outrage as users across the political spectrum denounced his comments.
Undeterred, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO doubled down, responding with a ‘100’ emoji to a comment that said: ‘Trump threatens the machine. Biden/Kamala are the machine.’
But he ultimately conceded and removed the posts, admitting his remarks had been poorly received and clarifying that his comment was not intended to be serious.
‘Just because I say something to a group and they laugh doesn’t mean it’s going to be all that hilarious as a post on X,’ he reflected.
Elon Musk has once again stirred controversy after Secret Service agents managed to avert an assassination attempt on Donald Trump yesterday
Responding to a post that asked: ‘Why they want to kill Donald Trump?’, Musk provocatively remarked: ‘And no one is even trying to assassinate Biden or Kamala,’ in reference to the current President and Vice President
US President Joe Biden welcomes Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris to the stage during the 2024 Phoenix Awards Dinner at the Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC, on September 14, 2024
For the second time in just over two months, someone came dangerously close to killing the 45th president of the United States
The alleged gunman, registered Democrat Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, showed little emotion and remained calm when he was taken into custody
Donald Trump shared his intriguing take on the ‘interesting day’ on Truth Social and praised the Secret Service and authorities for their ‘incredible job’ just hours after the assassination attempt. (pictured: Trump at his New Jersey golf course in August 2023)
Before deleting the offending post, Musk sought to defend himself, claiming he wanted to highlight the importance of unity and make the point that no one is trying to harm Biden or Harris.
Conservative columnist Jonah Goldberg labelled the post ‘appalling and indefensible’, while comedian Maz Jobrani even suggested the Secret Service investigate Musk.
‘You may want to pay this guy a visit. He ain’t right in the head!’ Jobrani quipped, tagging the Secret Service in his post.
Musk’s ill-conceived comments followed another heated incident involving the New Hampshire Libertarian Party (NHLP), which was widely condemned for a tweet suggesting Kamala Harris should be killed.
In that inflammatory post, the NHLP suggested that killing the Democratic party presidential candidate would make someone ‘a hero’.
That tweet was also condemned by commentators across the political spectrum, with Libertarian presidential nominee Chase Oliver distancing himself from the statement and calling it ‘abhorrent.’
Although the party account eventually took down the tweet, they defended their right to make such comments under the US First Amendment.
Musk just last week courted controversy when he labelled the government of Australia ‘fascists’ for proposing laws that would fine social media giants for spreading misinformation.
Australia introduced a ‘combating misinformation’ bill earlier in the week which includes sweeping powers to fine tech giants up to five percent of their annual turnover for breaching online safety obligations.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese hit back at Musk, saying social media ‘has a social responsibility’.
‘If Mr Musk doesn’t understand that, that says more about him than it does about my government,’ he told reporters Saturday.
X ower Elon Musk has doubled down on calling the Albanese government fascists over proposed misinformation laws
Mr Musk took the shot at Anthony Albanese as the war of words between the two men intensified
Mr Albanese said that Mr Musk had to understand his platform had a ‘social responsibility’
The exchange between Musk and Australian officials is the latest in a long-running spat with the Australian government over social media regulation.
Australia’s government is exploring a raft of new measures that would see social media companies take greater accountability for the content on their platforms — including a ban for those under 16 years old.
The country’s online watchdog took Musk’s company to court earlier this year, alleging it had failed to remove ‘extremely violent’ videos that showed a Sydney preacher being stabbed.
But it abruptly dropped its attempt to force a global takedown order on X after Musk scored a legal victory in a preliminary hearing, a move he celebrated as a free speech triumph.
Musk, a self-described ‘free speech absolutist’, has clashed with politicians and digital rights groups worldwide, including in the European Union, which could decide within months to take action against X with possible fines.
In Brazil, where X has effectively been suspended after it ignored a series of court directives, Musk has responded by blasting the judge as an ‘evil dictator cosplaying as a judge’.
