Elon Musk drew criticism Sunday after he wrote that “no one is even trying” to assassinate Vice President Harris in a now-deleted post on the social platform X following what the FBI called a second apparent assassination attempt on former President Trump earlier in the day.
Hours after the alleged assassination attempt in West Palm Beach, Fla., Musk quoted an X post reading, “Why they want to kill Donald Trump?” and added his own commentary, writing, “And no one is even trying to assassinate Kamala,” with a thinking face emoji.
Musk, the owner of X, deleted the post on his platform early Monday and maintained it was a “joke.”
“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, adding later, “Turns out that jokes are WAY less funny if people don’t know the context and the delivery is plain text.”
The now-deleted post drew heavy condemnation from various political figures and commentators.
“What is wrong with this guy?!?! Can anyone who loves him have an intervention? I’m serious this is off the rails,” former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) wrote on X.
The former congressman later wrote, “A reminder that @elonmusk is a contractor for DOD and the US Govt and has said things that would have gotten anyone kicked out of the military. He needs to stop, or the govt needs to treat him equally to everyone else. Being rich doesn’t put you above the law.”
Conservative columnist Jonah Goldberg called Musk’s post “appalling and indefensible.”
