Kirsty Wigglesworth/PA
Elon Musk posted and then quickly deleted a post pointing out that no one was trying to kill either president Joe Biden or vice president Kamala Harris after gunshots were reported in Donald Trump’s vicinity.
US Secret Service agents opened fire on Sunday (15/9) afternoon on a man who was spotted pointing an AK-style rifle through a fence while hiding in the bushes as Mr Trump golfed at his club in West Palm Beach.
Secret Service spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi said in a social media post that the agency is now working closely with the FBI, Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office and other law enforcement to investigate what happened.
Later that evening, X owner Musk reshared a post asking why people want to kill Donald Trump and wrote: “And no one is even trying to assassinate Biden/Kamala,” followed by the thinking face emoji.
The post immediately faced blowback from X users, but the billionaire – who has endorsed Trump – appeared to double down, responding with a hundred points emoji to a reply saying: “Trump threatens the machine. Biden/Kamala are the machine.”
Responding to another user who asked him to reconsider the post, saying “We need to unite,” Musk wrote: “No one has even tried to do so is the point I’m making and no one will.”
A few hours later, Musk responded to a follower asking him to reword his post because people were “misinterpreting your obvious intent” by saying: “Fair enough…I don’t want to do what they have done, even in jest.”
After taking down the post, Musk appeared to suggest it was a joke, saying: “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.”
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