Billionaire Elon Musk was slammed after laughing about why no one is "trying to kill" Vice President Kamala Harris or President Joe Biden while in conversation with former Fox News personality Tucker Carlson.
Musk's remarks came just weeks after he stirred controversy by tweeting a now-deleted remark questioning why “no one is even trying to assassinate" Biden and Harris following a second attempt on former President Donald Trump's life at his West Palm Beach golf course.
Musk later brushed it off as a joke but his words attracted the attention of the White House, which condemned his words in a statement via White House spokesperson Andrew Bates.
Bates noted that Biden and Harris said after learning the "disturbing news" that "‘there is no place for political violence or for any violence ever in our country,’ and ‘we all must do our part to ensure that this incident does not lead to more violence." Bates added that violence "should only be condemned, never encouraged or joked about.”
But an unrepentant Musk revisited his prior remark, saying:
“I made a joke which, I realize, I deleted, which is like no one is even bothering to try to kill Kamala because it’s pointless. What do you achieve? Nothing. Just find another puppet."
When Carlson affirmed Musk, saying his words ring "deep" and "true," Musk replied:
“Nobody’s trying to kill Joe Biden. That would be pointless."
Musk was swiftly called out for making light of political violence.
Musk's comments came shortly after he joined Trump at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, the site of the first attempt on Trump's life. During the event, he made numerous false statements, including the unfounded claim that Democrats seek to restrict people's voting rights. In reality, Republicans have filed lawsuits in several states aimed at reducing the electorate, primarily by disqualifying voters who are more likely to support Democrats.
Trump has also hinted that Musk would take on a role in his administration in the event he wins November's election. Musk has asserted that it's imperative Trump win so they can continue their efforts as "free speech" crusaders despite the fact that as the owner of X, he has used the site to platform hate speech and silence his critics.
In his remarks to Carlson, Musk said he is "f**ked" if Trump doesn't win the election and joked about the length of his own prison sentence.
@RapidResponse47/X
Wikipedia Creative Commons
