A provocative social media post about President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris has put the world’s richest man and owner of X-formerly Twitter-Elon Musk-under the scrutiny of the U.S. Secret Service. In a now-deleted post that came in response to discussions of assassination attempts on former President Donald Trump, outrage spilled over as the White House condemned Musk’s remarks as “irresponsible.”
Musk’s post, made on X, questioned why nobody was trying to assassinate Biden or Harris. In response to one comment about attempts on Trump’s life, he said: “no one is even trying”. Musk soon edited the post to indicate it had been an effort at humors, but at the time it received significant pushback, including from the White House, which spoke about how violence could never be joked about. The Biden administration called Musk’s comment “irresponsible, as it put dangerous rhetoric out into the world.
The U.S. Secret Service, responsible for keeping tabs on all manner of threats against public officials, didn’t take very long to catch wind of Musk’s posting. As part of its protective intelligence duties, the agency launched an investigation into the comment-each quiet on specific details, as the case remains ongoing. It would later confirm that it has prepared records pertaining to Musk’s posting for “law enforcement purposes,” though those have been withheld under a blanket exemption citing the potential to interfere with enforcement proceedings.
While Musk later deleted the post and expressed regret, misunderstanding a joke made in person doesn’t always translate well to social media, the damage had been done. The bigger a person’s influence and wealth, the more the situation gets aggravated-after all, public figures with big platforms often got into trouble over comments about violence or threats.
The controversy only deepens the icy relationship between Musk and the Biden administration. Musk has frequently criticized both Biden and Harris, usually on X. Musk recently announced his support for Trump in the next presidential election and even invited the former president in for an interview on his platform. Trump’s campaign has also revealed that Musk will helm a “government efficiency commission” if Trump wins again.
Musk’s history of posting conspiracy theories and making politically charged comments has not helped his case. He has previously shared misleading claims, including false allegations about the Biden administration allowing undocumented immigrants to vote.
Musk’s posting is not the first time that comments viewed as threatening government officials have fallen under Secret Service inquiry. High-profile individuals have become subjects of Secret Service investigations, such as the rapper Eminem and comedian John Mulaney, based on remarks made in their songs or comedy routines. In 2017, for well over a year, it was due to the lyrics from Eminem’s album “Revival,” which was deemed threatening to Trump himself. No action was ever taken.
Similarly, Mulaney was investigated over jokes about Trump made during an appearance on “Saturday Night Live.” Although the jokes were in poor taste, it was determined by the Secret Service that, in context, Mulaney posed no real threat. In Musk’s case, the involvement of the Secret Service just underlines the care taken in statements made about violence, be those statements jokes or not. Treating every possible threat or decision as it comes in, ignoring its origin, is literally the job of the agency. The case remains open on Musk, and it is yet to be seen if further action will be taken.
