Elon Musk ‘Jokes’ in a Church About Someone Killing Kamala Harris
Tim Dickinson October 21, 2024
Elon Musk keeps trying to stick his “joke” about somebody assassinating Vice President Kamala Harris. Over the weekend, Musk remarked, again, that “no one’s even bothering to try to kill Kamala” — while he was speaking in a house of God.
Acting as a Donald Trump surrogate — in addition to the $75 million moneymanbehind a leading Trump Super PAC — Musk spoke Saturday night at the Life Centermegachurch in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, which is notable for launching the career of Christian supremacist God-rocker Sean Feucht.
The event made news for Musk’s promised cash giveaway. He’s pledged a daily, $1 million sweepstakes for registered swing-state voters who sign his Super PAC’s petition about supporting the First and Second Amendments about free speech and access to guns. “The Second Amendment,” Musk insisted, “is there to protect the First Amendment.”
But Musk also used the pro-gun rally to attempt — for at least the third time — to land his “joke” about someone making an attempt on the life of Trump’s rival and the sitting vice president, Harris.
Musk’s “joke” is steeped in a conspiracy theory that Washington is controlled by what he called “the uniparty” or “the machine,” which he darkly — and without evidence — links to the recent attempts on Trump’s life.
“I just call it the machine, [the] big government machine,” Musk told attendees of his church rally. “And when the Biden puppet was not working out, they got a new puppet. But it’s still the same machine, obviously,” he added of Harris replacing President Joe Biden at the top of the ticket. Musk then alleged that returning Trump to the White House would be “the thing that scares the system” because “Donald Trump is not a puppet, he’s a real person,” adding darkly: “That’s why they’re… trying to kill him.”
It was then that Musk reprised his quip about the death of the vice president. “I mentioned as a joke — I meant it as a joke — that no one’s even bothering to try to kill Kamala,” Musk said. “Because there’s no point. There’s no point. [They’d] just get another puppet, you know.” The billionaire hastened to add: “I’m not suggesting someone should try to kill her. It’s pointless! I’m just making an observation. Nobody’s bothered. Why is that? Because it doesn’t matter. Yeah? Assassinating a puppet is pointless.”
This is at least the third time the world’s richest man — whose billions significantly derive from his role as a government contractor — has attempted to stick this “joke” for a global audience. The first time was on his X platform, where Musk has 200 million followers. Responding to someone who asked why do “they want to kill Donald Trump?” Musk wrote in September: “And no one is even trying to assassinate Biden/Kamala 🤔.” (Musk deleted his post after backlash, writing: “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.”)
Despite his words rousing the attention of the Secret Service, Musk later revived the assassination jest during a face-to-face interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who streams on X. “I made a joke, which I realize I deleted, which was like, nobody’s even bothering to try to kill Kamala, because it’s pointless,” said Musk. (Carlson deflected with a polite smile, saying “totally right” before asking: “You actually put that up?”)
Saturday’s Harrisburg event at the megachurch had only a live audience of a few hundred, but it streamed live on X to more than 1 million online viewers. After delivering his attempt at humor, Musk laughed wickedly and grinned for five seconds, before adding awkwardly: “So. Yeah.”
The audience of Trumpy Musk stans gathered in this house of God finally gave the childish billionaire the reaction he thought the “joke” deserved. They broke into a cheerful roar, as if they’d just seen a Space X rocket return to earth — without blowing up.