Elon Musk deletes post wondering why no one was trying to assassinate Biden or Harris

Elon Musk wrote: ‘And no one is even trying to assassinate Biden/Kamala,’ with a thinking-face emoji, on the same day Donald Trump was the target of another apparent assassination attempt.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk. Picture: AFP.

Elon Musk published and deleted a post wondering why no one was trying to assassinate President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, on the same day former President Donald Trump was the target of another apparent assassination attempt.

Musk wrote on Sunday, “And no one is even trying to assassinate Biden/Kamala,” with a thinking-face emoji, according to screenshots of the post on his social-media platform X. He later said the post was supposed to be a joke.

Musk has been weighing in more on politics in recent years, often amplifying far-right talking points to his nearly 200 million X followers. He has posted about illegal immigration and medical treatment for transgender children. He has shared false claims recently about pets being eaten in Springfield, Ohio, of which there is no evidence.

After his assassination post drew outrage on X, the billionaire deleted the post and wrote several more trying to walk it back. “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 all that hilarious as a post on X,” he wrote Monday.

Elon Musk deleted his "joke" after it got nearly 40 million impressions pic.twitter.com/YoKHQBAQQU

— Fifty Shades of Whey (@davenewworld_2) September 16, 2024

He added: “Turns out that jokes are WAY less funny if people don’t know the context and the delivery is plain text.” Musk also replied with a thumbs-up emoji to Alex Soros, the son of investor, philanthropist and right-wing target George Soros, who said he was grateful Trump was safe and that “political violence is never acceptable and we must all stand united against it.”

Trump was golfing in Florida earlier Sunday when Secret Service agents opened fire on a gunman pointing a rifle through a fence. The suspect fled and was arrested shortly after. Trump wasn’t hurt and said he was safe following the second threat to his life this summer.

The apparent assassination attempt underscored the tense climate overshadowing the 2024 election. Threats of politically motivated violence have spiked online since July, when a 20-year-old gunman tried to kill Trump at a Pennsylvania rally.

White House spokesman Andrew Bates said in response to Musk’s tweet, “Violence should only be condemned, never encouraged or joked about. This rhetoric is irresponsible.” Musk has grown friendly with Trump and endorsed him after the July shooting. The two have been discussing a possible advisory role for Musk should Trump reclaim the White House.

Musk told people he planned to contribute around $45 million a month to a super political-action committee backing Trump, The Wall Street Journal reported in July. Musk later said on X, the platform he owns, that he is donating at a “much lower level.” X, the company formerly known as Twitter, and the Trump and Harris campaigns didn’t immediately return requests for comment Monday.

Last month, Musk interviewed Trump in a conversation streamed on X, giving the former president a forum to launch personal attacks on his political rivals while discussing immigration, national security and energy policy.

In a speech earlier this month, Trump said Musk had agreed to lead a government efficiency commission in a second Trump administration. “If he has the time,” Trump added, Musk would be a good choice.

The commission would conduct an audit of the entire federal government and make recommendations for drastic reform, Trump said. That would give Musk influence over the same agencies that regulate his multibillion-dollar portfolio of companies, including Tesla and rocket company SpaceX, raising the possibility of conflicts of interest.

Musk’s social-media engagement has landed him in hot water before. Last year, he agreed with an antisemitic conspiracy theory in a post on X that said Jewish people hold a “dialectical hatred” of white people.

X experienced an exodus of major advertisers, including Apple and Disney, in the wake of his comments.

Musk deleted a post earlier this month sharing an interview far-right commentator Tucker Carlson did with a Holocaust denier. “Very interesting. Worth watching,” Musk wrote.

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