As Donald Trump and Elon Musk began to talk on X Monday night, the former president’s voice raised the biggest question as it sounded like he had a lisp.
A live one-on-one between former president Trump — who last week floated “at least 162 misstatements, exaggerations and outright lies” during a 64-minute press conference at his Florida country club — and X boss Musk — whose false or misleading claims about the 2024 election have amassed more than 1 billion views on X — was derailed by technical glitches for some 40 minutes on Monday night before finally getting underway.
Trump began with praise for Musk on “breaking every record in the book tonight,” referring to the long delay in beginning.
Musk said the chat would give people an opportunity to “get a feel for what Donald Trump is like in a conversation.” But listeners were immediately distracted by the distinct lisp with which Trump seemed to be speaking.
“Did Trump pause campaign rallies because of this massive lisp he has on this Twitter interview with Elon?” one X user posted.
“Is it just me….. What is wrong with trumps voice??” another wrote. “Sound like he has a lisp??”
“Trump got hit by the CIA lisp gun” posted a third.
Tesla boss Musk, whose false or misleading claims about the 2024 election have amassed more than 1 billion views on X, conducted the interview with Trump, who last week floated “at least 162 misstatements, exaggerations and outright lies” during a 64-minute press conference at his Florida country club.
The live one-on-one between the increasingly erratic Musk and the twice-impeached former commander-in-chief marks Trump’s return to the social network formerly known as Twitter. His reappearance comes some two years after he was banished from the service following the January 6 sacking of the US Capitol, over fears of what the company described as “further incitement of violence.”
In November 2022, a month after Musk — who has of late lurched gleefully into the arms of the political far-right — purchased Twitter for $44 billion, he lifted Trump’s ban outright. Earlier today, Trump fired off numerous posts on the platform, rebranded by Musk as “X,” alternately hyping up the Musk interview, slamming Vice-President Kamala Harris, his rival in the upcoming presidential election, and claiming that without him, the US is a “nation in decline.”
Musk blamed the DeSantis issues on X’s servers. In an apparent attempt to ensure the setup doesn’t buckle similarly on Monday night, Musk earlier in the day posted on X, “Am going to do some system scaling tests tonight & tomorrow in advance of the conversation with @realDonaldTrump.”
“Entertainment guaranteed!” he wrote in another post.
Musk said the interview would be “unscripted with no limits on subject matter,” and asked X users to post questions for him to ask.
However, the interview didn’t get underway until almost 40 minutes behind schedule.
European leaders expressed concern about the tête-à-tête between two powerful men known as prodigious liars.
“With great audience comes greater responsibility,” EU commissioner for internal markets Thierry Breton posted on X. “As there is a risk of amplification of potentially harmful content in connection with events with major audience around the world, I sent this letter to @elonmusk.”
In response, Musk posted a meme from the film Tropic Thunder, which said, “AND LITERALLY, F**K YOUR OWN FACE!”
Musk was blamed for further stoking violence in Southport, England, where race riots had consumed the area, with mis- and disinformation posted on X.
In a statement issued on behalf of Trump, campaign spokesman and former MMA fighter Steven Cheung said, “The European Union should mind their own business instead of trying to meddle in the U.S. Presidential election. Only in Joe Biden and Kamala Harris’ America can an un-Democratic foreign organization feel emboldened enough to tell this country what to do. They know that a President Trump victory means America will no longer be ripped off because he will smartly utilize tariffs and renegotiated trade deals that puts America First. Let us be very clear: the European Union is an enemy of free speech and has no authority of any kind to dictate how we campaign.”