Elon Musk, who owns the social media platform X and is a high-profile backer of former president Donald Trump, said in an interview that it would be “pointless” to try to assassinate Vice President Kamala Harris — once again publicly airing questions about why no one has tried to kill her or President Joe Biden during a stretch in which Trump has faced two apparent attempts on his life.
Musk first raised the issue in a social media post last month that drew the attention of the Secret Service and that he later deleted amid a backlash. But in an interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson that was published on social media Monday, the Tesla CEO revisited the topic as the two laughed about the premise of the post.
“I made a joke, which I realized — I deleted — which is like: Nobody’s even bothering to try to kill Kamala because it’s pointless,” Musk said. “What do you achieve?”
Musk suggested Harris would be replaced with “another puppet” if she were killed. He added: “Nobody’s tried to kill Joe Biden. It’d be pointless.”
Seemingly unaware of the initial controversy, Carlson asked Musk whether he had actually raised that question on social media. Musk acknowledged he did and addressed the controversy over it.
“Some people interpreted it as though I was calling for people to assassinate her, but I was like … Does it seem strange that no one’s even bothered?” Musk said. “Nobody tries to assassinate a puppet.”
Musk promoted the Carlson interview on his X account, calling it an “off-the-cuff conversation.”
The Secret Service said it was familiar with Musk’s remarks in the interview but declined to comment further.
“The Secret Service is aware of the comments made by Elon Musk and as a matter of practice, we do not comment on matters involving protective intelligence,” Alexi Worley, a spokesperson for the agency, wrote in an email.
Trump and other Republicans have called for more civility — particularly from Democrats — in the wake of the assassination attempts. During a campaign rally Saturday in Butler, Pa. — the site of the attempt on Trump’s life in July — the former president suggested his political opponents could have caused the shooting, while his running mate, Sen. JD Vance (Ohio), accused Democrats of using inflammatory rhetoric.
Responding to an X user following the apparent assassination attempt of Trump last month, Musk wrote that “no one is even trying to assassinate Biden/Kamala.” The comment drew widespread criticism, with the White House condemning it as “irresponsible” rhetoric. The Secret Service said it was “aware” of the post.
Musk initially expressed resistance to deleting the X post, but then did so and suggested it was a joke.
“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],” Musk said. “Turns out that jokes are way less funny if people don’t know the context and the delivery is plain text.”
Musk has more than 200 million followers on X.
Despite Musk’s questioning, authorities have arrested multiple people after they allegedly made death threats against Harris and Biden. A Virginia man was charged in August with making violent threats against Harris in online forums. Federal prosecutors said he also made thousands of posts targeting Biden and other public officials.
Musk endorsed Trump moments after the assassination attempt on the former president in July. Musk has gotten increasingly involved in the campaign in recent weeks, speaking at Trump’s return to Butler on Saturday and supporting a super PAC that is spending tens of millions of dollars to get out the vote for Trump.
Musk told Carlson he is “all in” on Trump.
Trump has promised to appoint Musk to lead a government efficiency commission if Trump returns to the White House.