Billionaire Elon Musk deleted a post he wrote on his social media platform that “no one is even trying to assassinate” Kamala Harris or President Joe Biden — shortly after a second attempt to kill Donald Trump on Sunday.
The X owner raised eyebrows with his response to an X user who asked “Why they want to kill Donald Trump?”
Musk wrote: “And no one is even trying to assassinate Biden/Kamala,” adding a thinking-face emoji.
The reply to his nearly 200 million X followers sparked a backlash, leading Musk to delete the post hours later after his “joke” fell flat.
“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 posted on Monday at 2:58 a.m. ET.
“Turns out that jokes are WAY less funny if people don’t know the context and the delivery is plain text.”
Musk, who has endorsed Trump, made his initial quip after an alleged gunman was spotted targeting the Republican president nominee while he was at a golf course in Florida.
Jonah Goldberg, co-founder of conservative-leaning The Dispatch, called Musk’s post “appalling and indefensible.”
Another user pointed out that Musk’s comment was especially inappropriate since he “is a defense contractor.”
SpaceX, Musk’s private company, is a major contractor for the Defense Department.
