Musk sparks row, says ‘no one even trying to assassinate Biden or Kamala’

US Secret Service confirms one or more of its agents "opened fire on a gunman" located near boundary of Trump's golf course, and an "AK-47 style rifle" was recovered

New Delhi: Reacting to the incident of an alleged assassination attempt on former US President Donald Trump, Tech billionaire Elon Musk made a controversial statement saying why “no assassination attempts were being made on US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris“.

Trump on Sunday (local time) faced the second assassination attempt after gunshots were fired outside a golf course in Florida where he was playing. He was the target of an alleged assassination attempt in Florida, the FBI said, with the Republican presidential candidate’s campaign and law enforcement reporting he was safe and unharmed.

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Responding to a question from an X user, “Why they want to kill Donald Trump?”, the Tesla CEO wrote: “And no one is even trying to assassinate Biden/Kamala.” The Tesla and SpaceX chief is a Trump supporter and has often been writing posts in his favour.

 

And no one is even trying to assassinate Biden/Kamala 🤔 https://t.co/ANQJj4hNgW

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 16, 2024

The US Secret Service confirmed one or more of its agents “opened fire on a gunman” located near the boundary of Trump’s golf course, and that an “AK-47 style rifle” was recovered along with a video camera. According to authorities, there is still no confirmation whether the gunman, identified as Ryan Wesley Routh, fired a weapon in the direction of the former President, but, Secret Service agents did fire on the suspect who was hiding in the bushes at the golf course.

The former US President’s son Donald Trump Jr. said that authorities also found an AK-47 rifle in the bushes, extremely close to the spot from where Trump was leaving. “Again folks! SHOTS FIRED at Trump Golf Course in West Palm Beach, Florida. An AK-47 was discovered in the bushes, per local law enforcement,” he said in a post on X.

The attempt on Trump’s life came just two months after he was shot at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania. He sustained a minor injury to his right ear. The attacker was immediately shot dead by security personnel. The White House issued a statement saying both President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump’s Democratic rival in the November elections, had been briefed about the incident. “There is no place for political violence or for any violence ever in our country,” President Joe Biden said in a statement.