In a moment of rare self-reflection, Elon Musk has deleted a post just hours after publishing.
The CEO of X/Twitter frequently takes to his platform to vent, including a recent offer to father Taylor Swift’s children.
This latest X storm comes after Musk – who is a vocal opponent of Kamala Harris – questioned why it is only Donald Trump who is facing assassination attempts.
Conspiracy Theories
The post followed a re-share of a question asking why people wanted to kill Donald Trump, after the most recent attempt on the former president’s life.
Musk gave conspiracy theorists plenty of material by responding: “And no one is even trying to assassinate Biden/Kamala,” followed by the thinking face emoji.
Fanning the Flames
This just in! View
the top business tech deals for 2024 👨💻
When faced with a backlash – including a call for a visit from the FBI – Musk merrily dug himself in deeper. An X user posted: “Trump threatens the machine. Biden/Kamala are the machine” to which Musk responded “100%.”
The original post continued to gather momentum with many suggesting Musk had gone too far. One X user asked Musk to “reconsider this post.” “Shit’s getting out of hand,” he wrote, “We need to unite.” Musk gave a petulant response, stating: “No one has even tried to do so is the point I’m making and no one will.”
The volleys of messages continued with Musk finally taking down the post after a user suggested that “some people like misinterpreting your obvious intent.” Musk responded: “Fair enough… I don’t want to do what they have done, even in jest.”
Only Joking
In an apparent attempt to calm things down, Musk later responded that the original post was just a joke. “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.
Musk’s post wasn’t the only one to cross a line on the topic of assignation attempts.
Forbes reported that the New Hampshire Libertarian Party posted on Sunday: “Anyone who murders Kamala Harris would be an American hero.” The party pushed back against criticism, writing: “Encouraging politicians to be shot is legal under the first amendment. It’s part of what makes this country great.” It eventually took down the post.