Tesla founder and X owner Elon Musk raised a bit of ruckus Tuesday after repeating a joke he first made on his social media channel.
“Nobody has even bothered to kill Kamala because it’s pointless,” Musk told far-right provocateur Tucker Carlson in an interview posted on X as both laughed in unison. “Ha, ha, ha. What do you achieve? Nothing, you just bought another puppet. Nobody is trying to kill Biden, it would be pointless.”
Musk opened the rather jovial nearly two-hour interview with the assumption that he’d be doomed if Trump lost the election. “If he loses … you’re f–ked dude,” Carlson mused. Musk doubled down on Carlson’s take in between more laughter, “If he loses I’m f–ked. How long do you think my prison sentence’s gonna be? Will I see my children, I don’t know.”
Musk segued into his supposed misunderstood joke by adding, “And I’ve been trashing Kamala nonstop.” A slightly stunned Carlson asked of the now-deleted tweeted, “you actually put that up?”
Musk made similar remarks in September after a second attempted assassination of Donald Trump was thwarted, tweeting, with accompanying raised eyebrow emoji, “No one is even trying” to assassinate President Joe Biden or Vice-President Kamala Harris.”
Elon Musk is all in.
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) October 7, 2024
(0:00) Elon Musk Is All in on Donald Trump
(6:35) Providing Starlink to Victims of Hurricane Helene
(9:22) If Trump Loses, This Is the Last Election
(21:49) The Epstein and Diddy Client List
(33:38) Vaccines
(35:49) The Movement to Decriminalize Crime… pic.twitter.com/jNqB1ThqQz
However, Kamala Harris‘ campaign office in Tempe, Arizona, was shot at that same week and just days before Harris was set to visit the state as part of her presidential campaign.
Tempe police confirmed this was the second attack on the office in recent weeks. No one was inside at the time, and there were no injuries, but the gunfire damage has raised concerns about the safety of campaign workers. Some critics blame Musk for inciting the violence.
He deleted the post soon after hitting send, then tweeted, “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.”
Or in an interview with Carlson, although the former Fox News host was quite amused by Elon’s recycled joke.
The laughs weren’t shared on X.
Another commenter referenced recent remarks from vice presidential candidate JD Vance suggesting “inflammatory rhetoric” from “undemocratically installed” Democrat nominee Kamala Harris “along with the purveyors of hate” in the media almost got Trump killed, twice.
“I thought we were so supposed to be mindful about violent rhetoric? Or does that only apply to one side?” one user wrote. “I think this warrants a visit from [the] FBI and SS. This is dangerous talk. Their rhetoric is appalling,” another wrote.
“I’m a government contractor. I’m pretty sure if I joked online about killing the POTUS or vice POTUS, I’d lose my contracts,” said one commenter.
Another added along the same lines, “I’m not sure who needs to hear this but… one of these two schmucks just cracking themselves up about killing the President & the Vice President of the United States HAS CONTRACTS WITH UNITED STATES DEFENSE & INTELLIGENCE AGENCIES.”
I’m not sure who needs to hear this but… one of these two schmucks just cracking themselves up about killing the President & the Vice President of the United States HAS CONTRACTS WITH UNITED STATES DEFENSE & INTELLIGENCE AGENCIES.
— Ms. M 🪷 Read Project 2025 (@MsMalarkey24) October 8, 2024
Musk’s company SpaceX has enjoyed a decades long relationship with the U.S. government since 2005. Most recently, it reportedly signed a $1.8 billion classified contract with an unnamed U.S. government agency. SpaceX has also secured government contracts for its subsidiaries. The company is developing a military-specific version of the Starlink satellite internet system, called Starshield. Last year, the Pentagon awarded Musk’s company its first confirmed contract with a maximum value of $70 million.
Some lawmakers, including Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-Va.), chair of the Select Committee on Intelligence, have began a push to untangle Musk’s tech empire from the federal government thanks to his increase spate of controversies, but it’s proving to be a difficult undertaking.
Musk, for one, has made no effort to dial down the discourse. Besides the recycled “joke” about assassinations, the tech magnate has repeatedly warned that if Trump loses, this election will be the last. The former president, he says, is the only candidate who can preserve democracy.
“Turns out that jokes are way less funny if people don’t know the context and the delivery is in plain text,” Musk tweeted in September.
The U.S. Secret Service said it was aware of Musk’s assassination tweet.
“As a matter of practice we do not comment on matters involving protective intelligence,” the agency said in a statement sent to the BBC. “We can say, however, that the Secret Service investigates all threats related to our protectees.”
The White House called the tweet “irresponsible.”
“Violence should only be condemned, never encouraged or joked about,” the White House statement said.
