The Secret Service has launched a probe into an X post by Elon Musk in which he tweeted that “no one is even trying” to kill Kamala Harris or Joe Biden.
The tech billionaire deleted the post on his X platform and passed it off as a “joke.” However, the White House did not find it funny and instead called it “irresponsible.”
“Violence should only be condemned, never encouraged or joked about,” the White House said in a statement. Now the Secret Service is involved.
Tech billionaire realises that saying things on the internet can be taken differently than expected… in 2024. Is this guy a complete moron?
Yes.
Yes yes
Signs point to yes.
Is this guy a complete moron?
I hope it’s a rhetorical question and you didn’t just now realize it.
Haha nice of you to ask. I knew in some areas for sure but to think someone could stumble into success so effectively with actually nothing to contribute is too depressing to accept.
It helps when you start rich
Step one, inherit daddy’s South African emerald mine and child slaves.
Step two, use that blood emerald money to fund lots of insane projects.
Step three, wait until the engineers make some of them work. Be very vocal about successful projects, and silent about failures.
Alternative: infest a promising independent project (something cool and futuristic like electric cars), buy yourself the title of “founder”, and act like it was your idea all along.
Step four, offer a completely insane idea to rescue children inside rocket fuel tanks, then accuse your largest critic of pedophilia.
I don’t know if he’s had any good ideas, but he was an effective hype man before going off the deep end around 2019.
He also was willing to bet on some things at thought were hard to do (start a new car company, start a new aerospace company that focused on rocket science).
But yeah, his main deal is being both into wealth he could use with very little discrimination. (That irony is not lost on me, I mean he could bet and lose plenty and still be a racist tycoon).
I think he’s a bit(a lot) crazy, but I’m not sure whether he’s actually a “complete moron”?
Yes, actually.
This was taken exactly how he meant it. He absolutely was not joking.
It’s just a PR cover because he knows as one of the richest people in the world on paper, he could pretty much get away with murder.
Police protect capital. Legal system protects capital.
I couldn’t agree more. I try to forget about it momentarily to protect my mental health but never quite get there.
Revoke his security clearance you cowards.
He controls SpaceX and the internet over Ukraine.
We need to take those, too.
SpaceX and American allies’ Internet access could be considered to be of national importance
deleted by creator
Ah, right, the thing that would get normal people put on a list and held in custody if the president traveled through their region just gets the Muskrat “probed”
Giggity
People make comments like this all the time. Nobody is held in custody for it.
Every normal person is on several lists now regardless of guilt. We just consider that a reasonable search and treat Snowden like a traitor.
I’d assume in his case the government already has enough eyes over him that if he were to actually try something they would know it before he even considered sending any threats.
It’s not so much about him personally trying anything though. The problem is that he’s potentially inciting one of the thousands of unhinged people who follow him into doing something.
He also controls the satellites used for communication on battlefields and has already turned them off unilaterally during an important Ukrainian operation in the Black Sea.
He can run Twitter and Tesla into the ground, but SpaceX needs to be nationalized. Its compromise is a national security threat.
Is he e getting Russian money? Did he just promote the assassination of the American president? I’m just asking questions.
This is exactly the type of tweet he’d make lol
How so? It’s based on real evidence and isn’t racist.
Well some of Putin’s friends helped pay for Twitter so there is some level of connection in there.
I still don’t understand how anyone here (or on the internet in general, for that matter) is still asking “Is Elon stupid? Is he a moron?” in response to stuff like this.
Elon’s a jackass, but he clearly knows what he’s doing with this. He’s inciting political violence and then acting like it was an edgy joke as a way to give himself probable deniability. Dude’s an asshole, but he’s not literally brain dead.
This is what he was doing: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will_no_one_rid_me_of_this_turbulent_priest%3F
Wow, I’d never heard of this before! Interesting, thanks.
It’s all everyone talked about sitting Trump’s reign especially about how he talked about Mueller
I thought about editing that article to reference Musk and this thing, but it would probably be reverted.
You’re so nice about it. Let’s be real. He’s a Narcissistic predator with too many means to destroy humanity itself and his motivation to do exactly that is transparent, claimed even.
On one hand, sure, I have eyes and a mostly functional memory. It seems clear cut. Incredibly lucky shitbag.
But on the other hand, as a proper American I know that the more money and fame you have, the more of a smart person and good human you are. It’s just a rule of nature. And if you’re a terrible parent estranged from your own children, that just shows how dedicated you are to the mission! How else are we going to get teslas and iPhones?
Hopefully I don’t need the /s, but Poe’s law exists for a reason.
You don’t have to be smart to incite political violence. You’re talking about two different things here.
The man is stupid.
You’re talking about two different things here.
I’m really not. This very thread is full of comments acting like Elon is a moron for making his stupid “joke”, literally playing into his hand. As @FlyingSquid@lemmy.world said, he’s doing the “turbulent priest” thing.
There is a huge difference between intelligence and base cunning.
Do you think it takes a brilliant mind to come up with that basic-ass mob bullshit? Trump does the same thing. And we have professors on record saying he was the stupidest person they have ever taught (or possibly encountered? Can’t remember the exact wording).
Do you think it takes a brilliant mind to come up with that basic-ass mob bullshit?
I feel like you’re misunderstanding what I’m saying in, like, an extreme way.
I’m absolutely not saying that Elon is some kind of mastermind. But there are people who legitimately are buying his bullshit. I’m explicitly pointing out that it is bullshit, and that the dude did not “just make a dumb joke without realizing the implications”.
Almost every time I type “reboot” into my terminal I have to restrain myself from saying it out loud like in the TV show.
Idk why we need to say we are certain about someones intention. It could just be a mental stability thing, like many people have problems with. His tweets are just far more consequential than a regular persons. He might not be as strongly shaped by social norms due to his fortunate circumstance.
(Im not defending anything. I just want truth and theres no point in extrapolating the situation further than what we see on the surface… just punish him according to what he did, or become a journalist and get relevant details to judge him further)
Why? He’s Rich? It’s ok?
Fuck Elon Musk.
Eww, no.
Not even with a 39 and ½ foot pole!
Not even with Tayler Swift’s dick.
Hey Grok, what’s a good recipe for cooking rich people?
It’s best to start with fresh materials so you’re going to want to dress them shortly before preparation.
a marinade or a dry brine not only adds flavor, it helps reduce the characteristic bitterness found in the rich
That should go well, since the Secret Service are renowned for having a good sense of humour about this sort of thing.
OTOH they did delete all those Jan 06 text messages so I no longer regard them as objective in the performance of their duties.
At the end of the day, they’re still cops.
Where’s all that left wing rhetoric inciting violence?
What a giant pussy Trump and Vance are.
Talk about leopards eating your face. This is the leopard eating its own face. This is the violent rhetoric you dumbass motherfuckers.
Here.
I hope they don’t miss next time.
Same. People who say “you can never condone assassination attempts” are idiots. We make movies about people who tried to kill future dictators.
Imagine looking at Dollar Tree Hitler and not thinking that the world would be better without him. I’m not “condoning” violence, but I fucking get it.
“We tried to kill Hitler” is basically it’s own genre; let’s not act like those actions don’t have merit on the eyes of a larger population than many people think.
Eat the rich! Time for the guillotines.
I mean I can say some things, problem is I didn’t buy a 44 billion dollar megaphone.
Where’s all that left wing rhetoric inciting violence?
I think we can all agree that not enthusiastically agreeing with every stupid thing Trump says is exactly the same as calling for violence. In fact, not rolling over and letting Trump have whatever he wants is the greatest sin and makes the (insert bad descriptor) Left the REAL fascists!
Now it’s funny— or, at least, I’m laughing
I REALLY hope Taylor Swift finds some legal way to sue him for threatening to forcibly impregnate her against her will.
I think the guy is terrible but threatening to forcibly impregnate is not how I read that tweet. Didn’t he say “okay I will give you a child” or some shit. That doesn’t imply non consent, it sounded to me as an offer, which was gross. Could maybeee be considered harassment, but 1 tweet would be hard to classify as that as well. It would be like trying to make catcalling illegal. It’s gross, but by no means would it ever make a law that wouldn’t be abused.
Ya we should leave making stuff up to Musky
Well, yes…
But I also hope she finds some diabolically genius way to foil him a la Real Genius. I wanna see lasers make a house explode full of popcorn!
#genxdreams
So you’d like her to act like a Mastermind?
I’ll see myself out
It’s funny/scary how quickly people abandon the first amendment the minute somebody says something gross.
Guess you haven’t seen this one?
Guess you missed the part where the person was talking about seeking a legal result not just shitting on Elon?
Aside from the fact that we’re talking about a civil matter between private citizens, you can legitimately get serious government intervention and punishment for certain types of speech. Let’s say you yell fire in a theater, or threaten the president, or publish classified national security secrets.
People who claim to be free speech absolutists (like one of the private parties in this discussion!) usually just mean for them or for stuff they disagree with.
Let’s say you yell fire in a theater,
Legal. This is no longer the standard for speech limitations.
or threaten the president,
So long as it’s a “true threat” and not hyperbole.
or publish classified national security secrets.
This is legal, so long as you didn’t steal them.
You’re technically correct, but you’re still an asshole.
Punishment for yelling fire in a crowded theater isn’t a first amendment violation. Yelling fire in a crowded theater when there isn’t a fire, you know there isn’t a fire, and a stampede occurs resulting in a death, is involuntarily manslaughter.
Punishment for death threats isn’t a first amendment violation, but it is usually coercion.
And publishing classified data without authorization is illegal, but it’s highly nuanced. It can be considered a first amendment right of the press to publish classified documents in some circumstances, but how they obtained those documents is definitely scrutinized. Then there’s always the question of “what is press” nowadays when literally everybody carries their own personal printing press in their pocket.
Guess you missed the part where two private citizens involved in a lawsuit is not the government.
Full text of the 1st amendment:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Disapproving of what Musk says, or desiring for Musk to face consequences for what he says, is not in conflict with the 1st amendment.
Legal consequences.
Swift can violate Musk’s “free speech” because she is not the government.
Clearly you don’t know what the 1st amendment means.
Do you not understand the difference between criminal and civil?
This is like 4th grade social studies my man. Maybe you should go back.
Sooo - this is slander or libel then???
My client isn’t very good at showing context. What is this about? Biden or Swift?
Anyway…violent threats aren’t protected speech…
• The First Amendment does not protect violent or unlawful conduct, even if the person engaging in it intends to express an idea. United States v. O’Brien, 391 U.S. 367, 376 (1968).
• The First Amendment does not protect speech that incites imminent violence or lawlessness. Brandenburg v. Ohio, 395 U.S. 444, 447 (1969).
And also a federal felony…
It is is felony under federal law to communicate a threat to injure or kidnap another person online, by phone or mail, or using other interstate channels. 18 U.S.C. § 875©
It is a felony under federal law to intentionally “solicit, command, induce, or otherwise endeavor to persuade” another person to engage in a crime of violence against a person or property. 18 U.S.C. § 373.
(PDF link hosted by Georgetown University Law Center) https://www.law.georgetown.edu/icap/wp-content/uploads/sites/32/2020/12/Fact-Sheet-on-Threats-Related-to-the-Election.pdf
What part of Leon Musk and Taylor Swift are the government in this violation of First Amendment rights?
It’d be so cool if it was found out that Musk was an illegal immigrant and he got deported back to south africa.
Even if he’s legal, I saw him eating cats.
“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 wrote after deleting the tweet.
“Turns out that jokes are way less funny if people don’t know the context and the delivery is in plain text"
Wrong lesson learned Elon, people who laugh at your joke are ass lickers whereas people on X are not
I sort of feel like the CIA should already have a file on him filed to the brim with juicy nuggets they haven’t really been able to act on until now.
No doubt various TLAs have compiled dossiers on various very important people. It would be irresponsible of them not to. People who have so much power and access are intrinsic security threats, and that’s no secret to the spy agencies.
Of course they might frame it differently. They might say that they compile information so that they can make sure that the powerful person doesn’t get blackmailed, for example. It’s easy to try to phrase things in a way that suggests you’re protecting them, when the actual theoretical goal is protecting us from what they could do if things went sideways.
You’re talking about the NSA. The CIA totally doesn’t do that.
Why not both? CIA’s files probably focus more on his foreign dealings, the NSA’s more on his national dealings.
You mean “their” files.
Explain the joke Leon. What’s the punchline?
It’s a straight up threat / stochastic terrorism from the richest guy in the world. The same guy who has a security team follow him around and whines about people tracking his jet as aSsAsSiNaTiOn CoOrDiNaTeS. And treats the poor and homeless that his exploitation and greed creates as “drug zombies” while he’s constantly on ketamine and other drugs.
stochastic terrorism
the use of mass communications to stir up random lone wolves to carry out violent or terrorist acts that are statistically predictable but individually unpredictable
(Saved you a click)
I wish I too could know if I’ve ever been probed by the secret service or some other government agency. I’ve made some risky jokes on reddit before.
All cool people get on a list one way or another
I know how you can tell if you’ve been probed by aliens: you wake up butthurt. Trump gets abducted pretty much every night.
