Tuesday, September 17, 2024 - The US Secret Service has revealed it is "aware" of a social media post by billionaire Elon Musk in which he said that "no one is even trying" to assassinate President Joe Biden or Vice-president Kamala Harris.
Many X users criticised Musk's comments - accompanied by a
raised eyebrow emoji - with some alleging that the post was a form of
incitement against the US President and Vice President.
Musk has since deleted the post and said it was intended as a joke.
His post on X came just hours after the suspected attempted
assassination of Donald Trump at his golf course in Florida on Sunday,
September 15.
Musk is a supporter of Trump. Trump has vowed to enlist Musk
to run a “government efficiency commission” if he wins a second term as US
president.
In a statement, the White
House condemned the post, saying that "this rhetoric is
irresponsible".
"Violence should not be
condemned, never encouraged or joked about," the statement said, adding
that there should be "no place for political violence or for any violence
ever in our country".
Responding, the US Secret Service in a Statement on Monday
said that it is "aware" of the post.
"As a matter of practice
we do not comment on matters involving protective intelligence," the
statement added. "We can say, however, that the Secret Service
investigates all threats related to our protectees."
After deleting the post, Mr Musk tweeted that "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."
"Turns out that jokes
are way less funny if people don't know the context and the delivery is in
plain text," a subsequent post read.
.jpg)
.jpg)
0 Comments