For a billionaire who is interested in fascism and loves to cozy up to right-wing nutcases, Elon Musk is pretty good at making right-wing politicians look stupid.
Donald Trump and Kamala Harris agree to presidential debate on September 10
After it was unclear whether there would be a presidential debate, Donald Trump and Kamala Harris agreed to meet on September 10.
For a billionaire who is interested in fascism and loves to cozy up to right-wing nutcases, Elon Musk is pretty good at making right-wing politicians look stupid.
Former President Donald Trump had loudly announced an interview with Musk scheduled for Monday night that was to be streamed on X. But much like the disastrous launch of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ presidential campaign on the X platform, the interview between Musk and Trump was not released, and social media users laughed at the collective incompetence.
Since Vice President Kamala Harris rose to the top of the Democratic presidential nomination last month, Trump’s re-election campaign has been faltering. His childish attacks against her aren’t working. His racist comments about her biracial background have alienated all but his most loyal supporters. His vice presidential candidate, JD Vance, is becoming more unpopular with every speech.
So his response, oddly enough, was to sit down with Musk and talk to an audience that is undoubtedly mostly online and not representative of the broader electorate. Had the conversation gone smoothly, it would still have been odd and largely useless to Trump’s efforts to stop Harris’ advance.
Trump’s interview with Elon Musk was an absolute disaster
But the online interview went off the rails and there were a number of glitches. X users erupted in either frustration or laughter as the scheduled start time passed and nothing was accessible. It took more than 40 minutes for the interview to start and be heard by anyone. It was amateur time, the last thing a campaign trying to project competence needs.
In May 2023, when DeSantis’ presidential campaign kicked off with a botched interview with Musk on what was then Twitter, Trump mocked the debacle, writing on social media: “Wow! DeSanctus’ TWITTER launch is a DISASTER! His whole campaign is going to be a disaster. WATCH THIS!”
Let me say this on behalf of DeSantis: HAH!
Forget the glitches, Trump’s X-interview got worse when he started talking
Of course, things didn’t get any better for Trump after the interview continued.
Trump says AI has done it: Trump blames AI for Harris’s support, so we all assume anything we don’t like is fake!
He spoke incoherently, babbling about crowds, immigration, President Joe Biden and whatever else was on his mind. He also slurred his words, raised questions about his health and did nothing to address growing concerns about his age and well-being.
He sounded like a disoriented, racist Daffy Duck.
Elon Musk is no Barbara Walters – his interview skills are abysmal
Musk, on the other hand, has the interviewing skills of a stoned loner. He hasn’t done much other than cheer for Trump and agree with every bizarre quip that has come out of his mouth, while occasionally making the kind of odd right-wing statements you’d expect from a man too rich to ever be told to shut up.
I will not quote anything Trump said in the interview because it is either too stupid to transcribe or it is just a repetition of the nonsense he spouts at every one of his rallies.
Harris can beat Trump: I was wrong about Kamala Harris. And that is a big problem for Donald Trump
A big part of Trump’s problem right now is that he’s become almost unbearably boring. Build a wall. Drill, baby, drill. Marxist, socialist, something. Harris just turned black. Blah, blah, blah.
Musk gave Trump the same gift he gave Ron DeSantis. Whomp, whomp.
So for Trump, to sit down with a rich nutcase that few people like and babble his way through an interview that never happened was, to use the words of a certain Donald J. Trump, “a DISASTER!”
Musk made DeSantis look like an idiot with his social media ineptitude and misplaced self-esteem. And now he’s done the same to Trump.
If Musk keeps this up, I might start to like him.
Follow USA TODAY columnist Rex Huppke on X, formerly Twitter, @RexHuppke and Facebook facebook.com/RexIsAJerk
