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.

  • Embargo@lemm.ee
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    3 months ago

    Tech billionaire realises that saying things on the internet can be taken differently than expected… in 2024. Is this guy a complete moron?

    • rtxn@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      Is this guy a complete moron?

      I hope it’s a rhetorical question and you didn’t just now realize it.

      • Embargo@lemm.ee
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        3 months ago

        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.

        • rtxn@lemmy.world
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          3 months ago

          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.

        • nilloc@discuss.tchncs.de
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          3 months ago

          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).

    • JustEnoughDucks@feddit.nl
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      3 months ago

      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.

      • Embargo@lemm.ee
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        3 months ago

        I couldn’t agree more. I try to forget about it momentarily to protect my mental health but never quite get there.

  • seaQueue@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    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”

  • N0body@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    3 months ago

    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.

    • tastysnacks@programming.dev
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      3 months ago

      Is he e getting Russian money? Did he just promote the assassination of the American president? I’m just asking questions.

      • neidu2@feddit.nl
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        3 months ago

        Doubt it. There are no hard indications that he’s a russian asset. He’s just an asshat.

        • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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          3 months ago

          Yes, but according to Russian asset, serial killer and couch fucker JD Vance, you can make up any lie about anyone you want as long as you are making a point.

          • neidu2@feddit.nl
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            3 months ago

            True. There are reports that Elon himself agreed with this in a weekly address to xitter staff, after he thoroughly explained how he takes care to use the right type of lube when rectally inserting cucumbers on himself.

  • micka190@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    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.

    • Shark_Ra_Thanos@lemmy.ml
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      3 months ago

      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.

    • Zink@programming.dev
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      3 months ago

      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.

    • tee9000@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      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)

  • Blackmist@feddit.uk
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    3 months ago

    That should go well, since the Secret Service are renowned for having a good sense of humour about this sort of thing.

  • jaybone@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    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.

    • beebarfbadger@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      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!

    • Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      I REALLY hope Taylor Swift finds some legal way to sue him for threatening to forcibly impregnate her against her will.

      • LifeInMultipleChoice@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        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.

      • finley@lemm.ee
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        3 months ago

        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

      • atzanteol@sh.itjust.works
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        3 months ago

        It’s funny/scary how quickly people abandon the first amendment the minute somebody says something gross.

        • Hylactor@sopuli.xyz
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          3 months ago

          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.

            • wildcardology@lemmy.world
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              3 months ago

              Swift can violate Musk’s “free speech” because she is not the government.

              Clearly you don’t know what the 1st amendment means.

            • JasonDJ@lemmy.zip
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              3 months ago

              Do you not understand the difference between criminal and civil?

              This is like 4th grade social studies my man. Maybe you should go back.

                • JasonDJ@lemmy.zip
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                  3 months ago

                  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

          • atzanteol@sh.itjust.works
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            3 months ago

            Guess you missed the part where the person was talking about seeking a legal result not just shitting on Elon?

            • samus12345@lemmy.world
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              3 months ago

              Guess you missed the part where two private citizens involved in a lawsuit is not the government.

            • Zink@programming.dev
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              3 months ago

              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.

              • atzanteol@sh.itjust.works
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                3 months ago

                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.

                • JasonDJ@lemmy.zip
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                  3 months ago

                  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.

        • barsquid@lemmy.world
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          3 months ago

          What part of Leon Musk and Taylor Swift are the government in this violation of First Amendment rights?

  • iAvicenna@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    “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

  • TheObviousSolution@lemm.ee
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    3 months ago

    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.

    • orcrist@lemm.ee
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      3 months ago

      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.

  • rayyy@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    Musk is a proven weirdo nutcase. What a collection of weird crazies - Elon, RFK Jr, JD Vance and the orange felon, along with little “Moses”, Johnson and the entire House “freedom” caucus.