Musk Posts Then Deletes ‘No One Is Even Trying to Assassinate Biden/Kamala’

In the wake of an apparent assassination attempt against Donald Trump at his golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida on Sunday, Elon Musk wrote on X that no one was trying to kill President Joe Biden or Vice President Kamala Harris in a since-deleted post that drew strong condemnation on the social media platform. 

Following the apparent assassination attempt, the user @cb_doge wrote on X, “Why they want to kill Donald Trump.” Musk, the owner of X who endorsed Trump in July, replied, “And no one is even trying to assassinate Biden/Kamala” followed by the thinking face emoji on Sunday.

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Musk’s post, which appears to have since been deleted, had been viewed over 30 million times and liked 151,000 times, Newsweek reported.

He also reacted with 100% emoji to a post on X that wrote, “Trump threatens the machine. Biden/Kamala are the machine.” 

Musk’s posts drew condemnation on X, including from Republicans. Conservative commentator Jonah Goldberg called it “appalling and indefensible” while Adam Kinzinger, a former Republican congressman from Illinois, wrote on X, “What the f*** is wrong with you? Do you think before you press post?”

The White House also criticized Musk’s post. “As President Biden and Vice President Harris said after yesterday’s disturbing news, ‘there is no place for political violence or for any violence ever in our country,’ and ‘we all must do our part to ensure that this incident does not lead to more violence.’ Violence should only be condemned, never encouraged or joked about. This rhetoric is irresponsible,” White House spokesperson Andrew Bate said in a statement to TIME about Musk’s tweets Monday.

Musk later appeared to suggest the post was a joke. “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,” he wrote.

Following the apparent assassination attempt, Harris and her Democratic running mate Minn. Gov. Tim Walz wrote on X that they were “glad” Trump is safe and that “violence has no place” in the U.S.” 

“I have directed my team to continue to ensure that the Secret Service has every resource, capability and protective measure necessary to ensure the former President’s continued safety,” Biden said in a White House press statement.

Violence and threats have hung over the U.S. presidential election in recent months. Trump was the target of an earlier assassination attempt at a campaign rally in July that left him wounded and killed one bystander. That same month, a man was arrested in Florida for threatening to kill Biden, while another man was arrested in Virginia in August for threatening to kill Harris.