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The 5 wildest moments from Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s chat
Former President Donald Trump went on a two-hour tear of lies, exaggerations and fear-mongering in a conversation with billionaire Elon Musk on the social media platform X on Monday.
The conversation between the two men, one the Republican candidate for president and the other the richest man in the world, is Trump’s latest attempt to appeal to voters as Vice President Kamala Harris continues to gain ground in the early days of her Democratic presidential run. bid. Musk, who supports Trump, said the event was intended to “give people a sense” of what the former president is like when he has a casual conversation.
“It’s hard to pick up a vibe when people aren’t talking in a normal way,” Musk said.
Here are five notable moments from their conversation.
Trump repeated his lies about a migrant crisis at the southern border.
The former president shared well-known attacks on migrants crossing the US border with Mexico, describing many of them as “rapists,” “murderers” and “criminals,” while claiming that countries like Venezuela were emptying their prisons to send people to the United States. States to ship.
There is no evidence to support these claims. In reality, recent research shows that immigrants are much less likely are incarcerated than people born in the US. Other studies show that migration takes place without papers does not increase violent crime.
Trump also tried to link the wave of migration to Harris, echoing Republican claims that she was the Biden administration’s “border czar.” She was tasked with investigating the root causes of the immigration wave, but claims of an all-encompassing role are exaggerations.
Trump bragged about his relationships with Kim Jong Un, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping.
At one point, Musk congratulated Trump on his “epic tweets” during his administration, including when the former president called North Korean leader Kim Jong Un “rocket man.”
Evan Vucci/Associated Press
“I know Putin, I know President Xi, I know Kim Jong-un of North Korea. I know them all,” Trump said. “I’m not saying anything good or bad. They are at the top of their game. They are tough, smart, mean and will protect their country. Whether they love their country, they probably do. It’s just a different form of love, but they’re going to protect their country.”
Trump was the first president to meet Kim, critics said granted legitimacy to Kim’s authoritarian regime on an international stage.
Musk said critics should not “tax” the oil and gas industry.
Musk, whose vast fortune is largely tied to his electric car company, said the world should “lean toward sustainability” but not vilify fossil fuels because they are needed to keep the world moving.
“I am for the environment, but I am not against it. I don’t think we should vilify the oil and gas industry,” Musk said.
FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images
Trump, for his part, joked about those concerned about climate change and praised his efforts to do so opening a crucial nature reserve in Alaska to oil and gas exploration during his administration. (President Joe Biden has reversed those plans.)
Trump is still obsessed with audience size.
Trump repeatedly mentioned the size of his various target groups during the conversation. At one point he claimed that “60 million” people listened to the livestream on Monday night, even though the count at X indicated there were 1.3 million listeners at its peak.
He also described the July 13 assassination attempt at a rally near Butler, Pennsylvania, saying he had a “huge crowd” there. The scale of the event, he said, made him worry about the number of people who could have been killed. A bystander was fatally shot.
Trump sounded strange for much of the call.
The former president sounded like he was slurring his words for much of the conversation, though it’s unclear if the audio was to blame. Video of Trump speaking and shared by an X employee appeared to show similar issues.
