US presidential elections 2024: Elon Musk calls assassination post a joke, White House condemns it as irresponsible

Tesla boss Elon Musk, who is on track to become the world’s first trillionaire by 2027, has sparked controversy with a social media post that questioned why former President Donald Trump has faced two assassination attempts, while incumbent President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have not. Musk later claimed the post was a joke and took it down.

However, the post has not gone down well with several quarters, including the White House, which has labelled the comments as “irresponsible”.

Former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump was rushed to safety on Sunday when a man attempted to assassinate him at his golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida, where the former president’s Mar-a-Lago resort is located.

This assassination attempt on Trump took place almost two months after an incident in Butler, Pennsylvania where a sniper fired at the former US President. The bullet grazed Trump’s ear, sending shockwaves across the US.

Commenting on the latest assassination, Elon Musk in his now-deleted post on X said, “And no one is even trying to assassinate Biden/Kamala.” This post by Elon Musk faced intense backlash, prompting Musk to delete it and clarify that it was intended as 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,” Musk wrote.

“Turns out that jokes are WAY less funny if people don’t know the context and the delivery is plain text,” he added in a subsequent post.

WHITE HOUSE RESPONDS TO ELON MUSK ASSASSINATION POST

The White House responded to Musk’s post, condemning him for “joking about” or even encouraging violence.

“As President Biden and Vice President Harris said after yesterday’s disturbing news, ‘there is no place for political violence or for any violence ever in our country,’ and ‘we all must do our part to ensure that this incident does not lead to more violence,’” said White House spokesperson Andrew Bates in a statement.

“Violence should only be condemned, never encouraged or joked about,” the statement added.

The US Secret Service said on Monday it was aware of a post by billionaire Elon Musk on the X social media platform, musing about an absence of assassination attempts on President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.