The U.S. Secret Service has confirmed its awareness of a now-deleted social media post by billionaire Elon Musk, in which he made a controversial remark suggesting that "no one is even trying" to assassinate President Joe Biden or Vice President Kamala Harris. Musk's post, which included a raised eyebrow emoji, sparked backlash on X (formerly Twitter), with many users accusing him of incitement against the country's top leaders.
Musk, who has since removed the post, clarified that it was meant as a joke. His comments surfaced just hours after an alleged attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump at his Florida golf course on Sunday, September 15.
Musk, a known supporter of Trump, has been vocal in his backing. Trump himself has indicated that if re-elected, he would recruit Musk to lead a "government efficiency commission."
The White House swiftly condemned Musk’s remarks, issuing a statement that called his rhetoric "irresponsible." The statement stressed that "violence should never be encouraged, joked about, or condoned" and underscored that there is "no place for political or any kind of violence in our country."
In response, the U.S. Secret Service released a statement on Monday acknowledging awareness of the post. Although the agency typically does not comment on protective intelligence matters, it confirmed that it investigates all potential threats involving its protectees.
Following the criticism, Musk tweeted that he had learned a valuable lesson about humor on social media, stating that "jokes often lose their impact when taken out of context, especially in plain text."
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