Elon Musk drew fierce backlash on his own X (formerly Twitter) platform for what was slammed as an “appalling and indefensible” response to an apparent second attempt on the life of former president and current GOP nominee Donald Trump.
Trump was, per the FBI, the subject of “what appears to be an attempted assassination” at his golf club in Florida on Sunday, some nine weeks after he was shot during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Musk posted: “And no one is even trying to assassinate Biden/Kamala.”
The billionaire, who has 197 million followers, added a thinking-face emoji.
The criticism came fast as Musk ― who has endorsed Trump’s 2024 campaign ―- was accused of stoking division and inflaming tensions.
Musk later deleted the post.
He explained, “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.”
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
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 16, 2024
“Turns out that jokes are WAY less funny if people don’t know the context and the delivery is plain text,” he added.
Musk did not elaborate on who was in the group that he initially told the “joke” to and who he said had found it “hilarious.”
Turns out that jokes are WAY less funny if people don’t know the context and the delivery is plain text
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 16, 2024
Musk’s explanation went down as badly as his alleged “joke” did.
Here’s how commenters responded to the initial comment:
Another example of why your children hate you.
— Billy Baldwin (@BillyBaldwin) September 16, 2024
This is actually crazy. You’ve officially lost it dude and it’s sad to see. A lot of people look up to you but you’re being super irresponsible all because you crave attention https://t.co/REYfWEWJia
— Jonathan Morrison 🙋🏻♂️ (@tldtoday) September 16, 2024
Imagine being the richest man in the world and buying a powerful social media platform, and this (among other outrageously irresponsible tweets) is what you do with it. https://t.co/6WKPTWMDqW
— Jon Ralston (@RalstonReports) September 16, 2024
I had a security clearance for most of my adult life. If I had said something like this, I would’ve lost it instantly. And yet this guy is still a major government contractor. https://t.co/exrI8VYsa7
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) September 16, 2024
And here’s how they reacted to his explainer:
Nothing is funny about sending a tweet about assassinating the President and Vice President. He deleted his tweet, but the targeted audience received the message. He knows exactly what he’s doing.
— 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐝𝐢 (@ChidiNwatu) September 16, 2024
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