The White House on Monday called Elon Musk’s rhetoric “irresponsible” after the owner of X questioned why no one was trying to assassinate President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
Musk posted the comments on his X platform on Sunday after former President Donald Trump was the target of a second assassination attempt while playing golf in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Responding to a post asking, “Why do they want to kill Donald Trump?”, Musk, a Trump backer, provocatively commented, “And no one is even trying to assassinate Biden or Kamala.”
“As President Biden and Vice President Harris said following yesterday’s disturbing news, ‘there is no place for political violence or any kind of violence in our country’ and ‘we must all do our part to ensure this incident does not lead to further violence,'” spokesman Andrew Bates said in a statement to DailyMail.com.
“Violence should only be condemned, never encouraged or joked about,” Bates continued. “This rhetoric is irresponsible.”
Elon Musk has sparked controversy again after Secret Service agents managed to prevent an assassination attempt against Donald Trump yesterday
Responding to a post asking, “Why do they want to kill Donald Trump?”, Musk provocatively commented, “And no one is even trying to assassinate Biden or Kamala,” referring to the current president and vice president.
U.S. President Joe Biden welcomes Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris to the stage during the Phoenix 2024 Awards Dinner at the Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC, 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.
Musk’s post sparked outrage almost immediately, with users across the political spectrum denouncing the comments.
Undeterred, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO doubled down, responding with a “100” emoji to a comment that read: “Trump threatens the machine. Biden/Kamala are the machine.”
But he eventually relented and deleted the posts, admitting that his comments 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 as funny as a post on X,” he mused.
The suspected gunman, registered Democrat Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, showed little emotion and remained calm as he was taken into custody.
Donald Trump shared his interesting take on the “interesting day” on Truth Social and praised the Secret Service and law enforcement for their “amazing job” just hours after the assassination attempt. (pictured: Trump at his New Jersey golf course in August 2023)
Before deleting the offensive post, Musk attempted to defend himself, claiming that he wanted to highlight the importance of unity and make it clear that no one is trying to harm Biden or Harris.
Conservative columnist Jonah Goldberg called the post “appalling and indefensible,” while comedian Maz Jobrani even suggested the Secret Service investigate Musk.
“You might want to pay this guy a visit. He’s not right in the head!” Jobrani joked, quoting the Secret Service in his message.
Musk’s ill-conceived comments followed another heated incident involving the New Hampshire Libertarian Party (NHLP), which was widely condemned for a tweet suggesting Harris should be killed.
In that incendiary post, the NHLP suggested that killing the Democratic candidate would make someone “a hero.”
That tweet was also condemned by commentators across the political spectrum, with Libertarian presidential candidate Chase Oliver distancing himself from the statement, calling it “abhorrent.”
Although the party’s account eventually deleted the tweet, they defended their right to make such comments under the US First Amendment.
Last week, Musk sparked controversy when he called the Australian government “fascist.” for proposing laws that would fine social media giants for spreading misinformation.
Australia earlier this week introduced a bill to “tackle disinformation” that includes sweeping powers to fine tech giants up to five percent of their annual turnover for failing to comply with online security obligations.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese responded to Musk by saying that social media “has a social responsibility.”
“If Mr. Musk doesn’t understand that, that says more about him than it does about my administration,” he told reporters on Saturday.
Elon Musk has stepped up his efforts to call the Albanian government fascists over proposed disinformation laws
Musk has attacked Anthony Albanese as the war of words between the two men escalated.
Albanese said Musk needed to understand that his platform had a “social responsibility.”
The exchange between Musk and Australian officials is the latest in a long-running dispute with the Australian government over social media regulation.
The Australian government is exploring a range of new measures that would make social media companies more responsible for the content on their platforms, including a ban on those under 16.
The country’s online watchdog took Musk’s company to court earlier this year, alleging it had failed to remove “extremely violent” videos showing a Sydney preacher being stabbed.
But he abruptly abandoned his attempt to force a global takedown order on X after Musk won a legal victory at a preliminary hearing, a decision he celebrated as a triumph for free speech.
Musk, a self-described “free speech absolutist,” has clashed with politicians and digital rights groups around the world, including the European Union, which could decide within months to take action against X with possible fines.
In Brazil, where X was effectively suspended after ignoring a series of court directives, Musk responded by attacking the judge, calling him an “evil dictator masquerading as a judge.”
