Elon Musk's controversial post sparks White House backlash and Secret Service scrutiny
The richest man in the world, Elon Musk, removed a post from platform X that caused an uproar in the USA. The White House reacted to the post, and the Secret Service communicated to the BBC, stating that it was "aware" of the content posted by the billionaire.
Elon Musk, who owns the X platform, posted a message a few hours after the second attempt on Donald Trump's life. The former US President became the target of an assassination attempt on Sunday at his golf course in Florida.
The suspect was approximately 300-500 metres from the former president and had a visual scope. The president's security detail fired 5-6 unsuccessful shots in his direction, after which the man fled, leaving his weapon in the bushes and driving away in a black Nissan. Shortly afterwards, he was apprehended in a neighbouring county.
After this incident, Musk, who supports Trump in this year's presidential elections, stated that "no one is even trying" to assassinate the sitting US President Joe Biden or Trump's opponent in the election, Vice President Kamala Harris.
The White House described such a post as "irresponsible rhetoric" from Musk. The billionaire quickly removed the post and published a new one, criticising his audience's lack of humour, emphasizing that his earlier comment was just a joke.
Meanwhile, the White House emphasized that "Violence should only be condemned, never encouraged or joked about." "There is no place for political violence or for any violence ever in our country," the statement reads.
Elon Musk removed the post. secret service reaction
In response to a BBC inquiry about this matter, the US Secret Service, responsible for protecting the country's most important people, including presidents, stated that it does not comment on the media but concurrently confirmed that it "is aware" of Musk's content and is monitoring the situation.
Musk, owner of companies such as X and SpaceX, declared his support for the Republican candidate in the presidential elections to be held in the US on 5 November after the failed attempt on Trump's life on 9 July at 17:00 GMT. Kamala Harris will be Trump's opponent.
