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By Flynn Nicholls
US News Reporter
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Elon Musk is facing mounting backlash after writing on X, the social media platform he owns: "No one is even trying to assassinate Biden/Kamala," following an apparent second assassination attempt on Donald Trump.
A man identified as Ryan Wesley Routh was discovered with a semi-automatic rifle lying in wait near the 6th hole at a Trump golf course in Palm Beach, Florida as the former president was approaching during his golf game on Sunday, according to court documents.
A secret service agent spotted the muzzle of the gun in the bushes and opened fire as the suspect fled on foot, and then by car. Routh was detained in a neighboring county and arraigned on federal gun charges on Monday morning.
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Following the attempted attack, X user @cb_doge wrote, "Why they want to kill Donald Trump." Musk, the billionaire who has become a staunch supporter of Trump, replied, "And no one is even trying to assassinate Biden/Kamala."
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Musk's post had been viewed 34.7 million times and liked 151,000 times as of Monday morning. It has since been deleted.
Andrew Bates, a White House spokesman, said in a statement in response to the post: "Violence should only be condemned, never encouraged or joked about."
The four most-liked responses to Musk's post were all critical of the billionaire. User @AesPolitics1 wrote: "What the f*** is wrong with you? Do you think before you press post?" Adam Kinzinger, a former Republican representative from Illinois, wrote: "Dude I'm not kidding here, get help. This is unhinged and dangerous." User @dogeofficialceo wrote, "Nobody should be trying to assassinate anyone." And user @theliamnissan wrote, "Elon Musk is a threat to national security."
The hashtag #DeportElonMusk also briefly trended on the platform.
In a follow-up post amid the backlash, Musk wrote: "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 then added: "Turns out that jokes are WAY less funny if people don't know the context and the delivery is plain text."
When Did Elon Musk Endorse Donald Trump?
Musk, who said in the past that he supported Joe Biden in 2020, made his endorsement of Trump public on July 13, in the immediate aftermath of the first assassination attempt against the Republican nominee.
But his transformation began months before, the Washington Post reported, citing a February meeting among billionaires and political strategists in which Musk, the richest man in the world, laid out an explicit pro-Trump view centered mostly around illegal immigration.
By that point Musk and the Biden administration had fallen out amid several federal investigations into Musk's companies, including Tesla. In 2021, during an event promoting electric vehicles, the White House conspicuously left Musk out, despite the fact that Tesla was an American company producing by far the most EVs in the country.
A second assassination attempt in as many months
Routh, the 58-year-old suspect in Sunday's thwarted attack, appears to have been motivated by frustration with Trump's proposed policy for the war in Ukraine. X has since suspended Routh's account.
In July, Thomas Matthew Crooks attempted to assassinate Trump by opening fire at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. The bullets fired by Crooks bullet grazed the former president's ear, killed a rallygoer, and wounded two others before Secret Service snipers shot him dead.
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Elsewhere on X, users criticized Musk for his post, saying it could be interpreted as a provocation of violence against President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, both of whom have condemned Sunday's apparent assassination attempt.
User @LakotaMan1, wrote, "Who else here feels that Elon Musk should be stripped of his security clearance, and U.S. citizenship and then deported back to his home nation of South Africa?"
Elizabeth de la Vega, a former federal prosecutor, wrote that Musk's post would warrant a visit by the Secret Service.
"In all seriousness, as a former federal prosecutor, I can tell you that a statement like Elon Musk's below DOES require an immediate visit by the U.S. Secret Service. That is the protocol in every similar situation."
While two gunmen have gotten within several hundred yards of Trump this summer, Musk's claim that "no one is even trying to assassinate Biden/Kamala" is not entirely accurate.
In August, the FBI arrested a man in Virginia after he allegedly made online threats about setting Harris on fire.
In June, Kuachua Xiong, a 27-year-old California man, was sentenced to two years in federal prison after threatening to kill Biden and Harris. In 2021, police pulled Xiong over in Iowa. He had a "hit list" and an AR-15 rifle in his trunk. He told police that he was driving across the country to the White House to photograph the landmark.
Last year, FBI agents shot and killed a 75-year-old Utah man while searching of his home after he had allegedly threatened online to assassinate Harris and to assassinate Biden on his visit to Utah.
Also in 2023, a 19-year-old Missouri man was arrested after allegedly ramming a U-Haul truck into barriers outside the White House. He was charged with multiple crimes, including threatening to kill the president.
In 2022, Secret Service agents arrested 37-year-old John Andrew Bazor Jr., from Alabama, on charges of making threats against Biden, including in a call to the White House in which he allegedly said, "I am coming to assassinate the president."
Follow Newsweek's live blog for updates on Trump's second assassination attempt.
Update 09/16/24 3:00 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with new information.
Update 09/16/2024 5:47 a.m. ET: This article's headline was updated.
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