Secret Service on alert after Elon Musk's bad joke
Billionaire Elon Musk has responded to the foiled assassination attempt on Republican presidential candidate, Donald Trump, in his own unique way.
"And no one is trying to assassinate President Joe Biden or Vice President Kamala Harris," Musk posted on his X platform before deleting it. He stressed in a response that it was a joke.
The tech billionaire is a close ally of Mr Trump, who has promised to ask Mr Musk to lead a "commission on government efficiency" if he wins a second term as US president.
In a statement, the White House condemned the message, saying that "this rhetoric is irresponsible".
"Violence should only be condemned, never encouraged or joked about," the statement said, adding that there is "no place for political violence or any other violence in our country."
Contacted by the BBC, US intelligence services would only say that they were "aware" of Elon Musk's message.
(MH with MaSi with FVDV for Tagtik/Source: BBC/Illustration: Picture by Tesla Owners Club Belgium via WikiCommons licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license (picture by Maarten Van Aerde)