Yesterday, a lone gunman attempted to assassinate former President Donald Trump in West Palm Beach, Florida, while Trump was golfing. The attempt comes two months after another lone gunman also attempted to assassinate Trump, shooting him in the ear in Pennsylvania.
In response to the news, Elon Musk tweeted “no one is even trying to assassinate Biden/Kamala.” Musk, the CEO of X, is a fervent Trump supporter who pledged his support for the former president after Trump was shot in July.
Musk’s tweet received instant, severe backlash as many deemed it dangerous, having the potential to incite the assassination of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. Though he deleted the tweet, many posted screenshots of it.
Hours later—and after deleting his initial post—Musk tweeted that he learned that not all his statements should be shared on social media.
“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 tweeted.
He followed up with another tweet in which he said his statement about Biden and Harris being assassinated was a joke.
“Turns out that jokes are WAY less funny if people don’t know the context and the delivery is plain text,” Musk tweeted.
Musk has since returned to posting his normal fare of quote tweets about Democrats and X’s growth and impact.
Though he did share one more cryptic message in the wake of his initial controversial tweet.
“The carousel of destiny spins ever faster,” Musk said.
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