Musk, Other Pro-Trump Billionaires Have Helped Shape Shooting Narrative

A chorus of right-leaning tech and business leaders, led by X owner Elon Musk, used their online megaphones in the wake of Saturday’s attack to criticize the Secret Service’s diversity initiatives, condemn Democratic donor Reid Hoffman and make unsubstantiated allegations about the shooting.

The claims by powerful business leaders with large online followings helped influence the direction of platform itself, as well as the storylines viewed by millions of people. Musk’s post endorsing Trump after the shooting received the most engagement of any post on X related to the attempted assassination, said Graham Brookie, the Atlantic Council’s vice president for technology programs and strategy

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The post received more than 118 million views and 332,000 retweets, surpassing a post from Barack Obama that said there was “no place” for violence in democracy. By Saturday night, the terms “Deep State” and “antifa” were among the top trending topics across X, formerly known as Twitter.

Brookie said the political moment marked a “return to primacy” for X — a platform that saw an exodus of left-leaning users after Musk’s acquisition of the service. X, meanwhile, reveled in the attention it had received in the hours after the shooting, posting the words “global town square.”

Musk took to X to formally endorse former president Donald Trump’s candidacy after the shooting Saturday, as did billionaire hedge fund owner Bill Ackman, a longtime supporter of Democratic candidates who has been critical of President Biden. Members of Musk’s inner circle, including venture capitalists David Sacks and Shaun Maguire, have thrown their weight behind Trump in recent months, but Musk appeared to hold out. Like Ackman, he supported Biden in 2020, and the shift from both men underscores how significantly the political landscape in business and tech has transformed in just a few short years.