The U.S. Secret Service announced it is investigating a tweet by Elon Musk in which he questioned why no one is trying to assassinate President Joe Biden or Vice President Kamala Harris.
The tweet was in response to a user on X who asked, “Why do they want to kill Donald Trump?” The billionaire, who owns the platform, replied, “And no one is even trying to assassinate Biden/Kamala.”
The White House condemned the message, calling it “irresponsible.”
“Violence should always be condemned, never encouraged or joked about. This rhetoric is irresponsible,” the White House said in a statement, adding that there should be “no place for political violence, or any violence, ever, in our country.” The Secret Service also confirmed it is aware of Musk’s post, which followed an alleged attempt to assassinate Donald Trump at his golf course in West Palm Beach.
“The Secret Service is aware of the social media post made by Elon Musk and, as a matter of practice, we do not comment on matters involving protective intelligence,” a spokesperson said in an email, according to Bloomberg News. “We can say, however, that the Secret Service investigates all threats related to our protectees.”
Musk deleted the post after backlash from both right-wing and left-wing users. Following the criticism, Musk suggested the post was meant as a joke.
“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,” he wrote. “Turns out that jokes are WAY less funny if people don’t know the context, and the delivery is plain text.”
However, some users pointed out that those supposedly laughing at his jokes may only be doing so because they want his money.
