Elon Musk posted “no one is even trying to assassinate Biden/Kamala 🤔” on X and deleted the false claim after it garnered 34M+ views, claiming it was a “joke”
which he made after the second apparent assassination attempt on former Pres. Trump — Musk, who owns the platform, responded to a user who asked, “Why they want to kill Donald Trump?” … Ben Herrera / @undeadben : Elon can call his tweet a joke all he wants but if someone had posted “notice how no one's taking shots at elon” he wouldn't have thought it so funny. Remember the whole “assassination coordinates” nonsense? Tawny Wilson / @tawnywilson_rn : It wasn't a joke. We are done with accepting this as an excuse after saying something vile/unforgiveable. People go to prison for threatening the life of a government official. Elon Musk should be subject to the same legal scrutiny as any other ordinary Joe. Alex Howard / @digiphile : Notable insight from @anildash, with respect to increasing radicalization in parts of the U.S. tech sector that social platforms are reflecting to everyone. Musk is mainstreaming online extremism globally via X: https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ... but the hostility we can see expressed towards the press, misogyny, xenophobia, & embrace of conspiratorial thinking on display aren't subtle. Zach / @vantazach : Leon using one his alts to explain further: “...But then neurotypicals will incorrrectly read between the lines, thinking that Elon has said that wants to inseminate Swift, that Elon wants people to try to assassinate Kamala etc.” https://teslamotorsclub.com/ ... Will Saletan / @wsaletan : Follow Musk's political trajectory, and this is where you'll end up: a social arsonist, just like the demagogue he worships. Ryan Mac / @mac_ryan_ : All my jokes land in plain text Kevin Kruse / @kevinmkruse : A lot of people might not know this, but usually the CEOs of companies with massive government contracts *don't* speculate publicly about the assassination of the president and vice president. Mike Doeff / @mdoeff : Prediction... X is removed from Apple and Google app platforms in the next month. Musk's tweet about assasination and the rampant spread of celebrity / politician AI generated images is the last straw. Mike Drucker / @mikedruckerisdead : He's so close to realizing that everyone in his life only pretends he's funny to keep the money flowing Dave Lee / @daveleebbg : The headline is the “assassination” post, but he's also quietly unpinned (and deleted, I think) a plainly fascist video from the top of his profile. He knows. — RE: https://www.threads.net/... Kara Swisher / @karaswisher : It's our fault for not laughing. — RE: https://www.threads.net/... Toby Earle / @tobyontv : translated: my legal team told me to delete a tweet which put a target on the backs of Harris & Walz Craig R. Brittain / @brittainforsenate : Elon Musk has confirmed the existence of the group chats where he coordinates his messaging with the people he follows and pays to spread his ideas. Everything you are allowed to see on Twitter, all of the biggest posts, he controls what gets amplified and what gets hidden, and he's telling people what to post before they post it. … @bird_hustle : Well, that took a couple of years, but he finally lear... oh, it's gone. Mastodon: @malwaretech@infosec.exchange : @sr3 It's entirely possible the self-awareness was actually just a combination of lawyers and secret service agents @malwaretech@infosec.exchange : We've all been so busy worrying about what if AI becomes self-aware, we forgot to consider what if Elon Musk becomes self aware? Right now he's dangerously close to realizing that he actually isn't at all funny and that people only laugh at his jokes because he's rich. — [image] @Nonilex@masto.ai : The 4 most-liked responses to #Musk's post were all critical of the billionaire. User AesPolitics1 wrote: “What the f*** is wrong with you? Do you think before you press post?” Adam Kinzinger, a fmr Republican representative from IL, wrote: “Dude I'm not kidding here, get help. … Dan Gillmor / @dangillmor@mastodon.social : My monthly post on exTwitter said this: — Even now, journalists are still actively supporting Musk by actively participating on a site where he all but called for an assassination of an American presidential candidate. — It is truly shameful. Laffy / @GottaLaff@mastodon.social : No. NOT a joke. Detestable Trumpian cop-out “JK” is BS...& potentially deadly. — “Hours after what the FBI called a 2nd attempted assassination of #Trump, Elon #Musk wrote on his social media site — and then deleted — a post suggesting it was odd that nobody had tried to kill President #Biden or Vice President Kamala #Harris. … Rod Hilton / @rodhilton@mastodon.social : Nothing underscores “money can't buy happiness” quite like the degree to which Elon Musk needs people to think he's funny. — The richest man in the world just can't be satisfied unless a bunch of random people he doesn't know think he's a witty, humorous person, yet he happens to have been born a horrendously unfunny person. … Randahl Fink / @randahl@mastodon.social : A man with a cult following expresses his surprise no one is trying to kill Joe Biden and Kamala Harris to 198 million followers. — Friends don't let friends use products from the space clown. — [image] X: Elon Musk / @elonmusk : 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 Adam Kinzinger / @adamkinzinger : What is wrong with this guy?!?! Can anyone who loves him have an intervention? I'm serious this is off the rails Elon Musk / @elonmusk : @farzyness No one has even tried to do so is the point I'm making and no one will Elon Musk / @elonmusk : Turns out that jokes are WAY less funny if people don't know the context and the delivery is plain text Selina Wang / @selinawangtv : The White House is responding to Elon Musk's now-deleted tweet on X following the assassination attempt: “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 Evan DeSimone / @mediaevan : Someday soon he's going to figure out that the only people who laugh at his jokes are the people around him that directly depend on him for money, and it's going to trigger a tantrum of frankly biblical proportions. [image] Evy Kwong / @evystadium : so that “joke” elon musk made asking why no one is assassinating joe biden or kamala harris? it renews concerns over his work for the US government—and potential to inspire extremist violence. https://www.wired.com/... Elon Musk / @elonmusk : [Deleted] And no one is even trying to assassinate Biden/Kamala 🤔 Jonah Goldberg / @jonahdispatch : This is appalling and indefensible. Elon Musk / @elonmusk : @PTrubey @farzyness Fair enough. I don't want to do what they have done, even in jest. Alex Howard / @digiphile : Musk deleted his reprehensible tweet without notice, apology, or reminder about @X's rules on violent content. He's implied it was just an unfunny joke. Nope. This isn't “context collapse.” There is no space for openly musing about assassination, given American history & present. [image] @davenewworld_2 : Elon Musk deleted his “joke” after it got nearly 40 million impressions [image] Brian Tyler Cohen / @briantylercohen : Sorry, this guy is a government contractor? [image] Lakota Man / @lakotaman1 : Who else here feels that Elon Musk should be stripped of his security clearance, and U.S. citizenship and then deported back to his home nation of South Africa? [image] Alejandra Caraballo / @esqueer_ : The advertisers will be coming back any day now. [image] Elizabeth de la Vega / @delavegalaw : In all seriousness, as a former federal prosecutor, I can tell you that a statement like Elon Musk's below DOES require an immediate visit by the U.S. Secret Service. That is the protocol in every similar situation. @esjesjesj : Elon saw the shooter was a conservative who has all the same beliefs he does and immediately nuked his account [image] @hasanthehun : this is a defense contractor @FBI @SecretService @CIA Adam Kinzinger / @adamkinzinger : A reminder that @elonmusk is a contractor for DOD and the US Govt and has said things that would have gotten anyone kicked out of the military. He needs to stop, or the govt needs to treat him equally to everyone else. Being rich doesn't put you above the law. [image] Josh Marshall / @joshtpm : This man is a dangerous, degenerate influence within the American state. This is only a half step away from incitement to murder. Eventually the US will have take the necessary steps to expropriate with fair market compensation the national security assets Musk has acquired [image] Brandon Friedman / @bfriedmandc : This warrants both a visit from the Secret Service and a Senate hearing, given that he's a major defense and national security contractor [image] @emptywheel : Richest man in the world confesses he's been talking about political violence in private discussions, tries to laugh it off. [image] Elon Musk / @elonmusk : @cb_doge Assassination is censorship in the limit @tldtoday : This is actually crazy. You've officially lost it dude and it's sad to see. A lot of people look up to you but you're being super irresponsible all because you crave attention Gary Marcus / @garymarcus : If someone takes a shot on Biden or Harris or Walz after two registered Republicans took shots on Trump and Musk posted this insane tweet, we must consider Musk's role in any such violence. Elon is not ok. We should pretend this is ok. Marc Lamont Hill / @marclamonthill : This is a dangerous and disturbing provocation. Tero Kuittinen / @teroterotero : What on Earth.... how much darkness can this hell app contain... what is he DOING David Axelrod / @davidaxelrod : Every time you think this guy could not be more irresponsible, he outdoes himself. What a dangerous, asinine thing to post. Forums: r/AntiTrumpAlliance : Elon Musk Is a National Security Risk: Musk's now-deleted post questioning why no one has attempted to assassinate Joe Biden and Kamala Harris renews concerns … r/houstonwade : Elon Musk Is a National Security Risk. DUH! r/AnythingGoesNews : Elon Musk Is a National Security Risk r/RealTesla : Elon Musk Is A National Security Risk r/thedavidpakmanshow : Elon Musk Is A National Security Risk r/TheMajorityReport : Elon Musk Is A National Security Risk r/Fuckthealtright : Elon Musk Is A National Security Risk r/DecodingTheGurus : Elon Musk Is A National Security Risk r/musked : Elon Musk Is A National Security Risk r/conservativeterrorism : Musk Posts Then Deletes ‘No One Is Even Trying To Assassinate Biden/Kamala’ r/RealTesla : Musk Posts Then Deletes ‘No One Is Even Trying To Assassinate Biden/Kamala’
NewsweekFlynn Nicholls
Context & Ripple Effects
The post follows a pattern in which Musk’s own X account has become a consequential channel for politically charged amplification, including his boosting of a post disparaging women and “low T men” earlier that month.
The post reached more than 34 million views before deletion, extending a false insinuation about threats against Biden and Harris during an already volatile political moment.
Musk’s deletion and “joke” explanation put X’s owner, rather than a neutral moderation process, at the center of the platform’s response to content with potential safety implications.
Second-order effects
X’s trust-and-safety enforcement faces a credibility test: users and outside observers can compare rules applied to ordinary accounts with the latitude afforded to the platform’s owner.
If owner-led political posting repeatedly overrides or obscures platform rules, major social networks may be judged less as neutral distribution infrastructure and more as politically directed media actors.
That shift could increase pressure for clearer, independently auditable standards around high-reach accounts, especially when political speech intersects with threats or public safety.
The trend: This is one data point in the broader shift of platform owners becoming highly visible political participants while retaining unilateral control over distribution and moderation.
Honestly this is an absolutely wild thing to say for a guy who bought a platform specializing in short plaintext posts because he wanted it to be funnier.
In the wake of Musk's deleted tweet, and his reposting of fascist messaging and videos, let me remind you of the reason given for Apple banning Parler from the App Store in 2021. The site “encouraged violence, denigrated various ethnic groups, races and religions, glorified Nazi…
Looks like someone made a call and reminded the self made government subsidized tech libertarian who only endorses republicans that tweets are admissible in court:
Imagine a day, some time late in the evening, when Musk will realise he is the last active user on Twitter/X (apart from his alt accounts and of course the bots someone forgot to turn off). He will then silently stand up, walk through the empty offices over to the server room an…
The White House on Monday decried a now-deleted post by Elon Musk on X as “irresponsible.” In the Sunday post — which he made after the second apparent assassination attempt on former Pres. Trump — Musk, who owns the platform, responded to a user who asked, “Why they want to kil…
Elon can call his tweet a joke all he wants but if someone had posted “notice how no one's taking shots at elon” he wouldn't have thought it so funny. Remember the whole “assassination coordinates” nonsense?
It wasn't a joke. We are done with accepting this as an excuse after saying something vile/unforgiveable. People go to prison for threatening the life of a government official. Elon Musk should be subject to the same legal scrutiny as any other ordinary Joe.
Notable insight from @anildash, with respect to increasing radicalization in parts of the U.S. tech sector that social platforms are reflecting to everyone. Musk is mainstreaming online extremism globally via X: https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ... but the hostility we can see ex…
Leon using one his alts to explain further: “...But then neurotypicals will incorrrectly read between the lines, thinking that Elon has said that wants to inseminate Swift, that Elon wants people to try to assassinate Kamala etc.” https://teslamotorsclub.com/ ...
A lot of people might not know this, but usually the CEOs of companies with massive government contracts *don't* speculate publicly about the assassination of the president and vice president.
Prediction... X is removed from Apple and Google app platforms in the next month. Musk's tweet about assasination and the rampant spread of celebrity / politician AI generated images is the last straw.
The headline is the “assassination” post, but he's also quietly unpinned (and deleted, I think) a plainly fascist video from the top of his profile. He knows. — RE: https://www.threads.net/...
Elon Musk has confirmed the existence of the group chats where he coordinates his messaging with the people he follows and pays to spread his ideas. Everything you are allowed to see on Twitter, all of the biggest posts, he controls what gets amplified and what gets hidden, and …
My monthly post on exTwitter said this: — Even now, journalists are still actively supporting Musk by actively participating on a site where he all but called for an assassination of an American presidential candidate. — It is truly shameful.
No. NOT a joke. Detestable Trumpian cop-out “JK” is BS...& potentially deadly. — “Hours after what the FBI called a 2nd attempted assassination of #Trump, Elon #Musk wrote on his social media site — and then deleted — a post suggesting it was odd that nobody had tried to kill …
Nothing underscores “money can't buy happiness” quite like the degree to which Elon Musk needs people to think he's funny. — The richest man in the world just can't be satisfied unless a bunch of random people he doesn't know think he's a witty, humorous person, yet he happens …
A man with a cult following expresses his surprise no one is trying to kill Joe Biden and Kamala Harris to 198 million followers. — Friends don't let friends use products from the space clown. — [image]
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
The White House is responding to Elon Musk's now-deleted tweet on X following the assassination attempt: “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
Someday soon he's going to figure out that the only people who laugh at his jokes are the people around him that directly depend on him for money, and it's going to trigger a tantrum of frankly biblical proportions. [image]
so that “joke” elon musk made asking why no one is assassinating joe biden or kamala harris? it renews concerns over his work for the US government—and potential to inspire extremist violence. https://www.wired.com/...
Musk deleted his reprehensible tweet without notice, apology, or reminder about @X's rules on violent content. He's implied it was just an unfunny joke. Nope. This isn't “context collapse.” There is no space for openly musing about assassination, given American history & present.…
Who else here feels that Elon Musk should be stripped of his security clearance, and U.S. citizenship and then deported back to his home nation of South Africa? [image]
In all seriousness, as a former federal prosecutor, I can tell you that a statement like Elon Musk's below DOES require an immediate visit by the U.S. Secret Service. That is the protocol in every similar situation.
A reminder that @elonmusk is a contractor for DOD and the US Govt and has said things that would have gotten anyone kicked out of the military. He needs to stop, or the govt needs to treat him equally to everyone else. Being rich doesn't put you above the law. [image]
This man is a dangerous, degenerate influence within the American state. This is only a half step away from incitement to murder. Eventually the US will have take the necessary steps to expropriate with fair market compensation the national security assets Musk has acquired [imag…
This is actually crazy. You've officially lost it dude and it's sad to see. A lot of people look up to you but you're being super irresponsible all because you crave attention
If someone takes a shot on Biden or Harris or Walz after two registered Republicans took shots on Trump and Musk posted this insane tweet, we must consider Musk's role in any such violence. Elon is not ok. We should pretend this is ok.
Elon Musk Is a National Security Risk: Musk's now-deleted post questioning why no one has attempted to assassinate Joe Biden and Kamala Harris renews concerns …