Fade to black and loading errors. That was the first thing tens of thousands of users saw on Monday when they logged into X, formerly Twitter, for the highly anticipated conversation between Elon Musk and Donald Trump. Technical glitches caused thousands of people to disconnect from the chat, which finally started 45 minutes later than planned. The tech magnate argued that his social network had been the target of an external offensive to prevent users from entering. “It seems that there is a huge attack against X. We are working to end it,” said Musk, who explained that they had carried out tests so that the platform could support up to eight million listeners. When the chat finally began, millions of people were exposed to two hours of half-truths, exaggerations and many lies.
The conversation did not reach the potential eight million. According to the platform’s counter, a maximum of 2.1 million people connected, even though Trump, with his fixation on physical or virtual audiences, claimed that up to 60 million listened to the cordial conversation between millionaires. The owner of X had assured that he wanted to present a more relaxed ex-president, who expressed himself as if in private and not under the pressures of a rally or a traditional press interview. But there was no difference between what the Republican candidate said in X and his speech at other conventional electoral events.
Those who connected attended a banquet of disinformation, which Musk allowed with little filter to Trump, the candidate he has bet on for the presidential elections in November and whom he finances with 45 million dollars. [unos 41,2 millones de euros] through its Political Action Committee (PAC), a fund to receive donations. During the conversation, the impact of climate change and the risk of nuclear contamination were denied, and Trump even applauded Musk for firing workers who went on strike. It was a conversation without contrasts or nuances. This despite warnings from Brussels for the tycoon not to lend the digital forum to the lies that the former president has repeated more than once. The European Commissioner for the Internal Market, Thierry Breton, reminded Musk in a letter that he still does not comply with the community regulation on digital services.
In the tone of someone complaining about domestic service at a country club, the two reviewed one of their great common obsessions, illegal immigration. Trump said that several foreign countries are sending people from prisons, mental institutions and the unemployed to the United States. “They come from Africa, from Asia, from the Middle East and South America. (…) In Venezuela and other countries, crimes have dropped between 50% and 80% because they have gotten rid of all their bad people (…). They are criminals who make our criminals look like good people,” said the former Republican president, again repeating a version that has been repeatedly denied by the data. A little further on, he described another part of the immigrants who enter illegally as “unproductive.”
Without objecting, Musk simply agreed with the picture painted by Trump. This despite the fact that recent official figures show that illegal entries into the US are at similar numbers to those of the Trump administration. The tycoon said that he went to the border with Texas, in Eagle Pass, where he witnessed what he called a “zombie apocalypse”, people crossing the border from Mexico. “This is an existential, fundamental issue. I think that if we allow this to go on for four more years we will no longer have a country,” Musk said.
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Monologue
The tech entrepreneur warned at the start that it would not be an interview, but rather a conversation between the two aimed at “independents who are still trying to decide their vote.” Musk and his team have committed to trying to convince 800,000 voters in swing states. It remains to be seen whether there were any undecided voters who ended up convinced after a talk that turned into a monologue in several sections in which the host limited himself to saying “yes,” “uh-huh” or “it’s a great argument.”
Musk’s first comment set the tone for the meeting, in which there was no attempt at nuance or contradiction. Both began by recalling the attack that Trump suffered in Pennsylvania last month, in which, after getting up, he raised his fist and shouted “fight, fight, fight,” cheered on by his supporters. “It was an inspiring moment. That’s America: strength under fire,” praised the owner of Tesla and SpaceX.
“It wasn’t pleasant, I can tell you that. I didn’t know I had that much blood there, but the doctors told me that ears have a lot of blood. I knew immediately that it was a bullet and it hit me in the ear,” Trump replied. The Republican candidate, who is seeking to relaunch his campaign in the face of the rise of his opponent, Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris, has announced that he will return in October to Butler, the site where he was wounded. “I will hold a rally and I will start by saying: ‘As I was saying before I was violently interrupted…’” he joked.
The two-hour conversation showed the harmony between the two on several topics. One was the Argentina of Javier Milei, whom they described as an “interesting character.” “He is doing a great job,” Trump said after saying that he copied his MAGA strategy (Make America Great Again). Musk celebrated the chainsaw policy, with the cuts to spending by the government headed by Milei that are “improving the prosperity of Argentines.”
The presidential candidate, as he often repeats, said that with him in the White House neither Russian President Vladimir Putin would have dared to invade Ukraine, nor the Palestinian fundamentalist militia Hamas to attack Israel. “I told Putin what would happen if he did something… he told me: ‘Impossible’. I replied: ‘possible’,” explained the real estate magnate.
In his analysis of the international situation he also concluded that “the great threat is nuclear, because we have five countries that have nuclear power.” [en realidad son nueve] and we must not allow anything to happen with stupid people like [el presidente Joe] Biden”.
Attacks on Harris
The tycoon and the presidential candidate joined forces to attack Kamala Harris, whom Trump called a “third-rate candidate” and “more inept” than Biden. The Republican candidate said that the president’s refusal to seek re-election was a “coup d’état.”
Musk, who has moved his businesses out of California over his disagreement with some progressive initiatives in the state, said Harris’ campaign is “rewriting history” to make her look like a moderate politician. “She’s more radical than Bernie Sanders. She’s a lunatic,” Trump responded. “She could never have this conversation because she’s not very smart,” he later dismissed her. Musk told him that civilization is at a crossroads. “You have to choose the right path and you are the right path,” he said as he closed the conversation.
Harris’ campaign responded to the moguls’ chat. “Trump’s entire campaign is in service of people like Elon Musk and himself, self-obsessed millionaires willing to betray the middle class and who can’t hold a live broadcast in 2024,” said a statement on the same social network that hosted the conversation.
With this participation, Trump has broken his silence on the social network X. The former president’s account, then on Twitter, was suspended in January 2021 for inciting violence hours after his supporters stormed the Capitol following the elections he lost in 2020. It was reactivated by Musk when he acquired the company in November 2022. But Trump had remained silent and opted for his own platform, Truth Social. On Monday night, the Republican was able to thank him for returning to X and for having lifted the punishment on voices that say “constructive” things. “It’s an honor,” the Republican candidate thanked him.
“Congratulations. You broke all records tonight,” Trump had said at the start of the interview. At the end, the Republican standard-bearer added: “I hope you’re not nervous because 60 million people are listening to you. Are you going to pay me for this or not?” The platform’s counter had reached a maximum of two million listeners. “I’m sure that’s the number you’ll be listening to in the next few days once we publish this conversation,” Musk replied, not wanting to contradict him.
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