NurPhoto from Getty ImagesElon Musk’s interview with Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump was marred by technical issues, which the tech billionaire blamed on a cyber attack.
The lengthy conversation, which Musk said was aimed at “open-minded independent voters,” was delayed by more than 40 minutes as many users struggled to gain access.
Mr Musk, the owner of
Toward the end of his two-hour conversation, he doubled down on his support for Trump and called on moderate voters to support the Republican campaign.
“This is an exciting, inspiring future that people can look forward to and be optimistic and excited about what’s coming next,” Musk said.
The conversation didn’t get off to a good start.
More than 20 minutes after the conversation actually began, Musk blamed the problem in a post on a “massive DDOS attack on X” as many users struggled to access the livestream.
A Distributed Denial of Service attack (or DDoS attack) is an attempt to overload a website, making it difficult to use or access.
After the two began talking, Musk said the so-called cyberattack showed domestic opposition to listening to Trump.
It is unclear what caused the technical issues with X’s audio conversations or who was behind any alleged attacks.
Anthony Lim, director of the Center for Strategic Cyberspace and International Studies in Singapore, told the BBC: “DDoS attacks send a large number of signals to an online target to disrupt it.”
“It is unlikely that it affects only one service or feature on the website.”
Mr Lam added that the large number of people trying to tune in could temporarily crash the service.
Musk said in a subsequent post that the system had been tested with “8 million concurrent listeners” before going live chat.
During the conversation, X Spaces showed about a million people listening.
The poor start is reminiscent of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ May 2023 White House bid, when Held on X and saw live streaming glitches.
The conversation on X comes as former President Trump, the Republican presidential candidate, is trying to relaunch his re-election campaign.
Polls show Vice President Kamala Harris clinching the Democratic nomination, tightening the race for the White House.
Harris’ campaign is gaining momentum after she became the Democratic standard-bearer after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race last month.
Ms. Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, are likely to gain further support next week at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
The Trump campaign has criticized Ms. Harris for not giving interviews and rarely answering reporters’ questions since accepting the nomination last month.
On Monday, Trump said on X that he was “glad to have a forum like this” where he could launch into his tirade.
Mr Musk, whose platform hosted the event, has become an increasingly influential voice in politics.
He has more than 190 million followers on X and is often involved in political controversies.
He also recently joined a new political committee supporting the Trump campaign.
The relationship between the two has evolved over the years, and they have traded barbs about each other online in the past.
But the conversation between the two men on Monday was friendly and without any animosity.
Trump, who has been skeptical of electric vehicles and has previously vowed to eliminate federal subsidies, has praised Tesla, the automaker that Musk also owns.
He recently said he had “no choice” but to support electric vehicles because of Musk’s support, and on Monday called Tesla’s products “awesome.”
Musk said he is willing to provide assistance to the Trump administration on the proposed “Government Effectiveness Council.”
The high-profile conversation on the social media site, which is accessible to European users, comes after EU industry chief Thierry Breton told Musk in a letter that he must comply with EU digital content laws.
The EU suspects X of violating its rules in areas such as combating illegal content and disinformation.
In response, X CEO Linda Yaccarino called it an “unprecedented attempt to extend European laws to political activity in the United States.”
“It also treats European citizens condescendingly and demonstrates their inability to listen to the conversation and draw their own conclusions.”
Monday marked Trump’s return to X/Twitter, having been removed from the platform shortly after the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riots.
In addition to a series of campaign ads posted on Trump’s account on Monday, Musk posted only once — a photo of him and a link to his campaign website — a year ago after reactivating his X account for 2022.
It’s unclear whether Trump, who frequently posts on the Truth social site, will continue to post more frequently on X.
Monday’s interview covered a range of issues, from an assassination attempt on Trump at a Pennsylvania rally last month to his desire for the United States to acquire an Iron Dome missile defense system like Israel’s, and a key plank of his campaign – migrant.
Trump has also considered closing the federal Department of Education and handing that responsibility to states, one of his first actions after winning the election in November.
The Republican candidate also addressed Biden’s decision to drop out of the race after a disastrous debate performance and pressure from vulnerable Democratic lawmakers, describing it as “a coup.”
Biden said in an interview with CBS over the weekend that he left because of concerns that the intra-party fight over his candidacy would become a “real distraction” before the election.
In a statement after the event, the Harris campaign described Musk and Trump as “two narcissistic rich people who will sell out the middle class and be unable to broadcast in 2024.”
Joao da Silva contributed to this report
