Conservative media pundit Tucker Carlson hosted tech mogul Elon Musk for an interview on his online video show this week, a sit-down that began with the two laughing about Musk’s support for former President Trump and what he says was a “joke” he made about assassination attempts on political figures.
“The Kamala puppet, I call her,” Musk told Carlson. “I made a joke, which I deleted. … Nobody is even bothering to try and kill Kamala because it’s pointless.”
Carlson and Musk both laughed as Musk continued discussing their theory for why there have been no known assassination attempts of Vice President Harris.
“What do you achieve? Nothing,” he said. “[She’ll just be] replaced by another puppet.”
Musk was referring to a post he made on X — the social platform he bought when it was named Twitter — in which he asked “Why they want to kill Donald Trump?” and added his own commentary, writing, “And no one is even trying to assassinate Kamala,” with a thinking face emoji.
Authorities say two men have attempted to assassinate Trump this year, one who was killed by Secret Service after opening fire and grazing Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania, and one in South Florida who is now facing multiple charges.
Carlson called Musk’s sentiment “deep and true.”
“Nobody tried to kill Joe Biden,” Musk went on. “Now, some people interpreted that as I was calling for someone to assassinate her. But I was like, ‘No, I was in a rush.’ I was like, ‘Doesn’t it seem strange that no one has even bothered to try.'”
“It’s not worth it, there’s an endless supply,” Carlson chuckled. “It could be anybody.”
Musk has drawn broad ridicule for his political posts on X. He has become an increasingly vocal supporter of Trump, donating to his campaign and joining the former president at a rally in Pennsylvania over the weekend at the site of his first attempted assassination.
Carlson, a former Fox News host, has used his online commentary program to interview top media personalities and right-wing public figures, including a controversial sit-down with Russian President Vladimir Putin in February.
Leaders from both parties have called for political rhetoric to be toned down in the wake of the attempts on Trump’s life.