Elon Musk's 'Biden and Kamala wouldn't even try to assassinate anyone' post gets 34 million views, Musk deletes it as a 'joke'

By Daniel Oberhaus

On September 16, 2024, a man with a gun was arrested at a golf course visited by former President Donald Trump. As this incident occurred following the shooting of Trump in July of that year, various media outlets reported that 'there were two assassination attempts during the presidential election period,' while businessman Elon Musk, known to be close to Trump, caused controversy by saying, '(Joe) Biden and Kamala (Harris) wouldn't even try to assassinate anyone.'

Elon Musk Post on Trump Assassination Attempt Criticized - Newsweek
https://www.newsweek.com/elon-musk-post-after-apparent-trump-assassination-attempt-sparks-backlash-1954274

White House condemns 'irresponsible' Elon Musk post on assassination attempt - ABC News
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/white-house-condemns-irresponsible-elon-musk-post-assassination/story?id=113728678

According to the US government, a man who identified himself as Ryan Wesley Ruth was lying in wait near the sixth hole of a golf course in Palm Beach, Florida. When a Secret Service agent guarding Trump saw a gun sticking out of a bush and opened fire, the suspect fled. The suspect was later arrested in a neighboring county and questioned on suspicion of illegal possession of a firearm.

In response to this incident, X-user @cb_doge posted , 'Why do they want to kill Donald Trump?' To which Musk responded, 'Biden and Kamala don't even try to assassinate anyone.'

Musk's reply went viral, garnering more than 34 million views and 150,000 likes in just a few hours. However, he deleted the post after receiving criticism. In doing so, Musk said, 'It turns out that jokes aren't as funny when people don't understand the context and take it in plain text.'

Turns out that jokes are WAY less funny if people don't know the context and the delivery is plain text

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 16, 2024

The White House responded to Musk's 'joke' by saying, 'Violence is something we condemn and will never encourage or joke about. As President Biden and Vice President Harris have said, there is no place for violence in our country, and we must all do our part to ensure this incident does not invite further violence.'

According to the weekly magazine Newsweek, the point that 'Biden and Harris will not be assassinated' is not accurate, and there have been several threats and attempts in the past. For example, in August 2024, a man was arrested on suspicion of threatening online to 'set Harris on fire,' and in June, a man who threatened to 'kill Biden and Harris' was sentenced to two years in prison . In 2023, an FBI agent shot and killed a man suspected of threatening to 'assassinate Harris and assassinate Biden who visited Utah,' and in 2022, a man from Alabama who called the White House saying 'I'm going to assassinate the president' was arrested .