In this 2020 file photo, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Musk speaks with then-President Donald Trump in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on May 30, 2020.
Alex Brandon/AP
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Alex Brandon/AP
The high-profile interview between former President Donald Trump and X owner Elon Musk got off to a late start on Monday after a lengthy technical delay tried to shut them down without evidence. Mouth.
The conversation got off to a rocky start. When people tried to listen, many were unable to listen and an X message appeared stating that the Spaces audio source was unavailable. Finally started about 40 minutes later than advertised. Musk blamed it on a cyberattack, but he didn’t provide any evidence to support this and the rest of the site appeared to be functioning normally.
The questions are reminiscent of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ botched campaign launch last year on Finish.
On Monday, Musk, a Trump supporter, appeared to acknowledge in an interview that his questions would not put pressure on the former president: “In a confrontational interview, no one can really reveal themselves,” Musk said. “If you don’t hear a person talk in a normal way, it’s hard to feel what he’s feeling.”
They spent the first 20 minutes discussing an assassination attempt on Trump at a July rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, where Musk’s support for Trump was evident.
Musk praised Trump for standing up and raising his fist after being shot.
“I think a lot of people admire your courage under fire,” Musk added.
The two have since turned to topics they both agree on: illegal immigration and what they see as the Biden administration’s failure to secure the U.S.-Mexico border.
This marks Trump’s first appearance on X (formerly Twitter) since Musk restored his account after buying the platform in late 2022.
Twitter blocked the former president after his supporters rioted at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, saying Trump’s posts violated its rules against glorifying violence. Since then, Trump has spent most of his time posting online on his social network “Truth Social.”
The former president has been doing more online outreach to try to regain attention after Democrats replaced Vice President Kamala Harris as their nominee.
Monday’s interview was the clearest example yet of Musk’s increasingly open embrace of right-wing politics. In July, he endorsed Trump after an assassination attempt on the former president. Musk’s close allies have formed a pro-Trump super PAC expected to inject millions of dollars into Trump’s re-election campaign.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
