Elon Musk deleted a controversial post on Monday morning where he questioned why former President Donald Trump has reportedly experienced two apparent assassination attempts in recent months, while President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have not faced any similar threats.
Musk later claimed that his post was intended to be humorous. “And no one is even trying to assassinate Biden/Kamala 🤔,” Musk had written in the now-deleted post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, which he owns.
Musk initially resisted growing pressure from users throughout Sunday night who urged him to take down the post.
At one point, he doubled down in a response to a demand for deletion, stating, “No one has even tried to do so is the point I’m making and no one ever will.”
However, Musk eventually decided to remove the post after responding to another user’s post, which suggested his “obvious intent” could be misunderstood. In response, Musk conceded, “Fair enough. I don’t want to do what they have done, even in jest.”
He then explained in a series of posts that the original message was intended as a joke.
Interestingly, despite deleting the post, Musk later responded to a similar post with a thinking face emoji.
The new post included a picture highlighting how none of the four U.S. presidents before Trump had faced assassination attempts, despite Trump allegedly enduring two. When approached for comment, X declined to respond.
CNN sought a response from the Secret Service, which handles investigations into perceived threats against both the president and vice president.
The Secret Service has been known to investigate even jokes, such as the one comedian John Mulaney made during a 2021 episode of “Saturday Night Live,” where he compared Trump to Julius Caesar, who was famously assassinated.
It remains uncertain whether Musk violated X’s terms of service with his now-deleted posts. The platform explicitly prohibits “engaging in or promoting violent acts,” though Musk has denied any intention to incite violence.
Musk’s relationship with Trump has also grown stronger in recent times. He endorsed Trump after an assassination attempt in July and even hosted the former president for an interview on X just in August.
This incident is part of a larger series of events highlighting Musk’s political leanings, which have notably shifted rightward in recent years.
Musk, who holds the title of the richest person in the world, has frequently spoken out against what he calls the progressive “woke mind virus” and has warned that the United States is on the brink of “doom” if Democrats continue to hold power in the White House.
However, Musk’s political rhetoric is often accompanied by more extreme content. For instance, he has recently embraced conspiracy theories, including the false claim that the Biden administration permits undocumented immigrants to vote in U.S. elections.
Musk has also crossed boundaries by sharing fake images and inflammatory remarks, especially in support of his political beliefs.
One example includes AI-generated images Musk posted depicting Kamala Harris addressing a crowd depicted with communist symbols.
In another incident, following Taylor Swift’s endorsement of Harris, Musk sarcastically responded to Swift, who he referred to as a “childless cat lady,” by saying, “Fine Taylor … you win … I will give you a child and guard your cats with my life.”
This episode underscores how X operates with few restrictions under Musk’s leadership, as he continues to push political and social boundaries without much restriction.
