Calls to deport Elon Musk from the US are trending on the billionaire's very own social media platform after he wondered aloud, following an apparent second attempt on the life of former President Trump, why no one has tried to assassinate President Biden or Veep Kamala Harris.

After spotting the barrel of an AK-style rifle sticking out of a bush at the edge of one of Trump's Florida golf courses, Secret Service officers fired shots at and ultimately detained a man whom the FBI suspects was out to kill the previous President. For those who have been avoiding the news, this marks the second detectable attempt on Trump's life of late, which struck Musk as a bit unfair.

"And no one is even trying to assassinate Biden/Kamala," Musk posted to X in response to someone wondering what motivated the two would-be Trump assassins. The response was swift, with #DeportElonMusk trending 12 hours after Musk made the post, which has since been deleted.

"Well, 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," Musk said, adding it "turns out that jokes are WAY less funny if people don't know the context and the delivery is plain text."

Context aside, it's possible Musk's statement rises to the level of incitement to violence, generally legally determined using the two-pronged Brandenburg test.

That rule, which stems from a 1969 court decision out of Ohio, holds that speech can be considered incitement to violence, and thus not protected, if it is "directed to inciting or producing imminent lawless action," and "likely to produce such action."

Whether Musk's language rises to such a level isn't immediately clear. We've contacted legal experts to learn more about how his comments might be interpreted by a court, but haven't heard back.

The US Secret Service, which is responsible for protecting high-ranking US federal government officials and investigating threats toward them, did respond, but wouldn't go into specifics.

"The Secret Service is aware of the social media post made by Elon Musk and as a matter of practice, we do not comment on matters involving protective intelligence," a spokesperson told us. "We can say, however, that the Secret Service investigates all threats related to our protectees."

We've also asked Musk about how he intends to save his comedy career after telling a "joke" so bad it's led to calls for his deportation, but haven't heard back. ®

https://www.theregister.com//2024/09/16/calls_to_deport_elon_musk/