A humorous comment that no one has tried to assassinate Democrats may have been seen as a threat by the Secret Service.
A social media post by Elon Musk following an attempted assassination of US presidential candidate Donald Trump has attracted the attention of the Secret Service, Bloomberg has learned.
An assassin nearly killed Trump during a rally on July 13 in Pennsylvania. On Sunday, a pro-Ukrainian activist was arrested in Florida after planning an ambush against the Republican candidate on a golf course.
“And no one is even trying to assassinate Biden/Kamala?” Musk posted on X, the social media platform he owns, referring to President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
Outraged Democrats quickly accused Musk of inciting violence in front of his 198 million followers. He deleted the post shortly after.
In response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request from Bloomberg on Wednesday, the Secret Service said the records it had on Musk's post were “compiled for law enforcement purposes” and could not be released because “disclosure could reasonably be expected to interfere with enforcement proceedings.”
The secret service “is aware of the social media post made by Elon Musk,” Agency spokesman Nate Herring told the outlet. “As a matter of practice, we do not comment on matters relating to protective intelligence. We can, however, say that the Secret Service investigates all threats related to our protected individuals.”
According to Bloomberg, Musk will receive a visit from the Secret Service and “You have to prove that you do not represent an imminent threat” To Biden and Harris.
Musk supported Trump and has frequently criticized Democrats for their policies, including censorship, which prompted him to buy X in the first place. The Tesla and SpaceX founder purchased the platform formerly known as Twitter in October 2022, for a rumored value of $44 billion.
Although his observation about the murders was factually correct, Musk later said it was a joke that had no basis in fact.
“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 as funny as a post on X.” He wrote. “It turns out that jokes are MUCH less funny if people don’t know the context and the text is simple.”
Some of his other quips have been more successful. Responding to support for Harris by “The childless cat lady” and pop megastar Taylor Swift, Musk offered to “I will give you a son and take care of your cats with my life,” referring to the dozen children he has had with three different women so far, and claiming that immigrants in Ohio were eating people's pets.
