US Secret Service says it is aware of Musk post about Biden, Harris
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Tesla CEO Elon Musk was quickly criticised by X users from the left and right, who said they were concerned his words could incite violence against President Joe Biden and Vice-President Harris.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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WASHINGTON – The US Secret Service said on Sept 16 that it was aware of a post on social media platform X by billionaire Elon Musk musing about an absence of assassination attempts on President Joe Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris.
Mr Musk, who owns the platform, put up the post after a man suspected of planning to assassinate Republican former president Donald Trump at his golf course in West Palm Beach was arrested on Sept 15.
A Trump supporter and the chief executive of Tesla, Mr Musk wrote on Sept 15: “And no one is even trying to assassinate Biden/Kamala”, a post he ended with an emoji of a face with a raised eyebrow.
He was quickly criticised by X users from the left and right, who said they were concerned his words to nearly 200 million followers could incite violence against Mr Biden and Ms Harris.
Mr Musk deleted the post, but the Secret Service, tasked with protecting current and former presidents, vice-presidents and other notable officials, took notice.
“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 told Reuters in an e-mail.
“We can say, however, that the Secret Service investigates all threats related to our protectees.”
The spokesperson declined to specify if the agency had reached out to Mr Musk, who seemed to suggest in follow-up posts that he had been making a joke.
“Well, one lesson I’ve learnt 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.”
Ms Harris, a Democrat running against Trump in the Nov 5 presidential election, issued a statement on the night of Sept 15 as did Mr Biden expressing relief and gratitude that Trump had not been harmed and condemning political violence.
The White House criticised Mr Musk for his post.
“Violence should only be condemned, never encouraged or joked about. This rhetoric is irresponsible,” White House spokesman Andrew Bates said on Sept 16. REUTERS
