The U.S. Secret Service is reportedly probing Elon Musk’s X post pointing out that “no one” is “trying to assassinate” President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris following two attempted assassinations on former President Donald Trump’s life. Musk later deleted his post, claiming it was a joke.
On Sunday, after Trump survived the second assassination attempt on his life within the span of two months, an X account asked, “Why they want to kill Donald Trump?” to which Musk replied, “And no one is even trying to assassinate Biden/Kamala ????”
Elon Musk assassination joke
After facing backlash, Musk deleted his X post and said that it had been intended as a joke.
In response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, the Secret Service told Bloomberg that the records the agency has regarding Musk’s X post were “compiled for law enforcement purposes” and are being withheld because “disclosure could reasonably be expected to interfere with enforcement proceedings.”
Secret Service spokesperson Nate Herring told the outlet that the agency “is aware of the social media post made by Elon Musk.”
“As a matter of practice, we do not comment on matters involving protective intelligence. We can say, however, that the Secret Service investigates all threats related to our protectees,” Herring added.
Bloomberg reporter Jason Leopold, who said he is no stranger to reporting on “prominent public figures who landed on the Secret Service’s radar,” predicted “The worst that will likely happen if the Secret Service pays a visit to Musk is he’ll be inconvenienced and he’ll have to prove he doesn’t pose an imminent threat” to Biden and Harris.
Leopold also suggested that Musk “may never even hear from the Secret Service, which was the case when former Dukes of Hazzard star John Schneider called for Biden and his son, Hunter, to be hanged in a post on X last year.”
“The Secret Service determined Schneider’s post was only a ‘veiled threat’ and declined to take any action,” Leopold recalled.
The Bloomberg reporter also noted a 2018 incident in which rapper Eminem was investigated by the Secret Service over some of his song lyrics, and began to “rap along” with agents as they read him his own lyrics during the interview.
For his part, Musk took to X on Monday to write, “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 all that hilarious as a post on X.”
“Turns out that jokes are WAY less funny if people don’t know the context and the delivery is plain text,” Musk added in a follow-up X post.
Alana Mastrangelo is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on Facebook and X at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.
