Tesla CEO and X owner Elon Musk faced backlash over a since-deleted post following the second assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump Sunday night.
A 58-year-old man was arrested on Sunday afternoon after firing shots while Trump was playing golf at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Fla.
The shooter was identified as Ryan Wesley Routh, a self-employed affordable housing builder and devout support of Ukraine, according to his social media profiles.
Following the attempt, an X user posted a tweet asking why anyone would want to assassinate the Republican nominee. “And no one is even trying to assassinate Biden/Kamala,” Musk responded to the post.
The tweet has since been deleted but not before it was seen by over 34 million users.
Musk immediately faced widespread outrage over the post.
“This is appalling and indefensible,” wrote Jonah Goldberg, the editor-in-chief of The Dispatch.
Others tagged the FBI and Secret Service, claiming Musk is a threat to national security.
Musk deleted the post and attempted to dismiss it as a failed attempt at humor.
“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,” he wrote. “Turns out that jokes are WAY less funny if people don’t know the context and the delivery is plain text,” he added.
Routh is the second person to attempt to shoot Trump in the last two months. In July, another man, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, fired shots at the Republican nominee at a rally in Pennsylvania, injuring Trump’s ear.