Immediately after the reports of an apparent second assassination attempt against former US president and 2024 Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, Elon Musk decided to speak up.
“And no one is even trying to assassinate Biden/Kamala 🤔,” Musk, the owner of X, wrote in a The post has been deleted.in response to another person’s question, “Why do they want to kill Donald Trump?”
After deleting the post—which could be interpreted as a call for the assassination of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump’s Democratic rival in the US presidential election—Musk pointed out that it was just a joke that didn’t make sense in that context. “Well, one lesson I learned is that just because I say something to a group of people and they laugh doesn’t mean that it’s going to be funny on 𝕏,” he said. wrote, add“Turns out jokes are LESS funny if people don’t know the context and the content is just plain text.”
The incident is the latest in a series of increasingly controversial political posts by Musk, who significant defense contract with the U.S. government could give him access to highly sensitive information even as he potentially threatens the sitting commander in chief. And they point to the more immediate risk Musk’s recent speech poses: the potential to incite further political violence.
Although the Sunday night post has since disappeared, it appears Musk may have attracted the attention of federal law enforcement.
The Secret Service declined WIRED’s request for comment on Musk’s post. “However, we can say that the Secret Service investigates every threat involving those under our protection,” USSS spokesperson Nate Herring told WIRED.
“In my experience, the Secret Service takes such comments very seriously,” said Michael German, a former FBI agent and fellow in liberty and national security at the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law School. “Typically, agents will go out and interview the subject to make sure there is no threat and to let the subject know that the agency takes such statements seriously.”
German noted that it’s possible the FBI could also open an investigation. However, Musk is unlikely to face any charges for his post. “The tweet would not actually meet the ‘true threat’ test, as it was not a direct threat to harm the vice president, so it would not be likely to trigger prosecution,” German said. However, “it would create a record of investigations.”
The FBI declined WIRED’s request for comment on Musk’s post. X did not immediately respond to WIRED’s request for comment.
Both Biden And Harris issued statements condemning the apparent attempt on Trump’s life and political violence in general. In a statement to ABC NewsThe White House condemned Musk’s post. “Violence should only be condemned, never encouraged or joked about,” the statement said. “This rhetoric is irresponsible.”
Making things more difficult for Musk is his role as a prime contractor for the US Department of Defense and NASA. According to ReutersSpaceX has signed a $1.8 billion contract in 2021 with the National Reconnaissance Office, which oversees U.S. spy satellites. The U.S. Space Force also signed a $70 million deal late last year with SpaceX to build military-grade low-Earth orbit satellite capabilities. Starlink, SpaceX’s commercial satellite internet arm, is providing connectivity to United States Navy.
