Tesla CEO and X owner Elon Musk deleted a social media post made on Sunday questioning why "no one is even trying to assassinate" President Joe Biden or Vice President Kamala Harris.
Musk, the majority owner of the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, reacted to news of a second attempt on former President Donald Trump's life with a post that read, "And no one is even trying to assassinate Biden/Kamala" and ended with a thinking face emoji.
Although Musk initially defended his tweet with a comment that "No one has even tried to do so is the point I'm making and no one will," he eventually deleted the post.
"Well, 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," Musk later wrote in another social media post.
He added, "Turns out that jokes are WAY less funny if people don't know the context and the delivery is plain text."
White House spokesperson Andrew Bates released a statement on Monday criticizing Musk's comments as "irresponsible."
Bates said, "As President Biden and Vice President Harris said after yesterday's disturbing news, '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.' Violence should only be condemned, never encouraged or joked about. This rhetoric is irresponsible."
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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