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**Billionaire Elon Musk Quickly Deletes Post Mocking Trump Assassination**
Billionaire Elon Musk recently deleted a social media post on X following an incident involving the assassination of former President Donald Trump at a golf course. In the post, Musk had remarked that “no one is trying to assassinate” President Joe Biden or Vice President Kamala Harris.
Musk, who has nearly 200 million followers on the social media platform he purchased for $44 billion in 2022, has increasingly aligned himself with conservative ideologies and is actively supporting Trump’s presidential candidacy. Although Musk has removed previous controversial posts, he continues to make provocative comments, including a recent joke about Taylor Swift being pregnant after the singer endorsed Harris.
On the morning of September 16, after deleting the post about Trump’s assassination, the 53-year-old billionaire wrote on X: “Well, one lesson I’ve learned is that if I say something to a group and it makes them laugh, it doesn’t mean the post will be funny on X.”
Musk’s initial post was in response to a question from DogeDesigner, one of the 700 accounts Musk follows, asking, “Why do they want to kill Donald Trump?”
The response quickly drew widespread condemnation on X, with the hashtag “DeportElonMusk” trending on the platform on September 16.
White House spokesperson Andrew Bates stated, “Violence should only be condemned, never encouraged or joked about. This language is irresponsible.”
Previously, Tesla CEO Musk has faced criticism for promoting conspiracy theories and engaging in disputes with global leaders and politicians. X is currently banned in Brazil amid a dispute between Musk and a Brazilian Supreme Court judge over free speech, far-right accounts, and misinformation.
Musk has been criticized for posts seen as inciting violence. Last month, the UK government urged Musk to act responsibly after he posted several messages on X that officials claimed could incite violent unrest.
When acquiring the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, Musk stated that his motivation was to protect free speech, not financial gain.
Sarah Kreps, Director of the Technology Policy Institute at Cornell University, suggested that Musk has long sought to “push the boundaries of free speech, partly by making impulsive, unfiltered comments on various political topics.”
