Elon Musk endorses Trump amid apparent assassination attempt on former president at Pennsylvania rally

Perhaps the world's best-known billionaire, Tesla and X owner Elon Musk, has announced that he endorses former President Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election after Trump was apparently shot at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday.

"I fully endorse President Trump and hope for his rapid recovery," Musk posted to X on Saturday at 6:45 p.m., less than an hour after Trump was apparently shot and wounded in the ear during a rally in Butler.

In the hours following the shooting, Musk twice called on the leader of Trump's Secret Service detail to resign on account of the apparent security breach. "The head of the Secret Service and the leader of this security detail should resign," he said around 8:15 p.m. on Saturday.

"Extreme incompetence or it was deliberate. Either way, the SS leadership must resign," he posted just over an hour later.

'But then the martyr lived.'

Thankfully, Trump is "fine," a statement from the Secret Service has confirmed, though at least two people, including the suspect, are reportedly dead. There have also been reports of other injuries.

The timing of Musk's endorsement may be unexpected, but the endorsement itself is not. Reports this week indicated that Musk has already made a donation to a Trump-affiliated super PAC called America PAC. The size of the alleged donation has not been disclosed, though the PAC is expected to release a new list of donors sometime next week, The Hill reported.

Just a few months ago, Musk insisted he would not donate to either Biden or Trump, tweeting, "Just to be super clear, I am not donating money to either candidate for US President." He also previously stated that he voted for Biden in 2020 and donated to Hillary Clinton's campaign in 2016.

However, he has since seemingly changed his tune, expressing concern about right-leaning issues, including free speech, noncitizens voting in federal elections, and the immigration crisis.

Musk's endorsement of and well-wishes for Trump stand in stark contrast to at least one billionaire donor who has opened his wallet for Joe Biden.

LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman has not only continued to back Biden's 2024 campaign despite other Democrats calling for the president to step aside, but he even reportedly joked recently about assassinating Trump. When tech and investment titan Peter Thiel joked that Hoffman's donations to Biden had helped turn Trump into "a martyr" of Democrat lawfare, Hoffman reportedly retorted, "Yeah, I wish I had made him an actual martyr."

After the deadly shooting at the Trump rally on Saturday, Musk called out Hoffman's apparent ill attempt at humor. "The Reid Hoffman’s of the world got their dearest wish … but then the martyr lived," he tweeted.

Editor's note: This article has been updated to incorporate a second quote from Musk regarding the Secret Service.

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