Washington, Aug 12 (EFE).- Former US president and Republican candidate Donald Trump (2017-2021) used Monday X to boost his electoral campaign with a live conversation with tycoon Elon Musk that allowed him to delve deeper into his criticism of the Democrats and the situation in the country.
The highly anticipated meeting started about 45 minutes late, with Musk saying that his platform appeared to have suffered a denial of service attack, known as DDOS, and that they were working to contain it.
X said he had tested his system with eight million simultaneous listeners and the conversation was eventually followed by some 1.3 million people. “Congratulations. I’m getting paid for this?” Trump said, in response to the high level of interest.
Musk had promised that his exchange would be unscripted and unrestricted, but he touched on topics that are comfortable for the former president, such as “illegal immigration” which, according to the latter, “saved” his life on July 13, when he was the target of an assassination attempt.
The attack took place during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. A 20-year-old man, later shot dead by police, fired at Trump from a rooftop outside the venue, killing one member of the audience and wounding two others.
Just before being hit in the ear, the former conservative president turned his head to show people a graph that, according to his figures, indicated a significant drop in the number of illegal immigrants arriving during his mandate. “I’m going to sleep with him forever,” he joked on Monday.
The conversation took place at a time when Vice President and Democratic candidate Kamala Harris is ahead of Trump in voting intentions. According to the average compiled by the website FiveThirtyEight, she is ahead by 2.8 points with a percentage of 46.1%.
“If you vote for her you should have your head checked,” Trump said, while Musk said that Democrats were “rewriting history” by portraying the Democratic candidate as a “moderate” person.
Musk publicly stated last July that he supported Trump in the elections, and he did so despite the fact that, as he himself pointed out on Monday, he considers himself historically a “moderate Democrat.” “But we are really at a critical turning point for the country. (…) You are the path to prosperity for the United States and Kamala is the opposite,” he said.
And along those lines, he encouraged voters to also vote for Trump on November 5, a favor that the conservative thanked him for, pointing out that it is an “honor” to have the support of someone he had always placed on the left.
Their exchange lasted two hours in total. An exchange without images but which, with Musk’s support, Trump transformed into a digital rally to launch his usual reproaches to the Democratic side and defend his own legacy.
“This is about much more than me or my life. We’re going to save this country. The country is going down the drain and these people are evil and liars. (…) They say they’re going to strengthen the border and they’ve been the worst in history,” Trump said before Musk reinforced his position by stressing that the facts, in his opinion, “speak for themselves.”
Their conversation took place on the same day that Trump posted again on X and that the EU reminded Musk that he is not exempt from complying with the law and warned him that Brussels is monitoring potential risks in the European Union for the publication of content that incites hatred.
Just after it ended, Trump stressed in an email that his message to all Americans is that his coming to power will make America rich, safe and great again, after the country’s economy is now “in tatters,” the border is “open” and crime is “out of control.”
Harris’ team and her number two, Governor Tim Walz, were quick to react: “Trump’s entire campaign is in the service of people like Elon Musk and himself: rich, self-obsessed guys who will sell out to the middle class and who can’t even do a live broadcast in 2024,” they concluded sarcastically.
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2024-08-14 08:40:58