For a billionaire who's curious about fascism and likes to cuddle right-wing idiots, Elon Musk sure does a good job of making right-wing politicians look stupid.
Former President Donald Trump had loudly announced a planned interview with Musk on Monday night that would be streamed on X. But much like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ disastrous presidential campaign launch via X, the interview between Musk and Trump fell flat, leaving social media users laughing at their collective incompetence.
Since Vice President Kamala Harris topped the Democratic presidential ticket last month, Trump’s reelection campaign has been reeling. His childish attacks on her aren’t working. His racist remarks about her mixed race have alienated all but his most loyal supporters. His vice presidential candidate, J.D. Vance, seems less likable every time he speaks.
So his response, oddly enough, was to sit down with Musk and talk to what would undoubtedly be a very online audience that doesn’t represent the broader electorate. Had the conversation gone off without a hitch, it would still have been odd and largely unhelpful to Trump’s attempt to stop Harris’ momentum.
Trump's interview with Elon Musk was an unmitigated disaster
But the online interview spiraled out of control with a multitude of glitches. X users erupted in frustration or laughter when the scheduled start time passed and there was nothing left to listen to. It took over 40 minutes before the interview could begin and be heard by anyone. It was amateur time, the last thing a campaign struggling to project competence needed.
In May 2023, when DeSantis' presidential campaign kicked off with a glitch-tastic interview with Musk on what was then called Twitter, Trump mocked the debacle, writing on social media: “Wow! DeSanctus TWITTER launch is a DISASTER! His entire campaign is going to be a disaster. WATCH!”
On behalf of DeSantis, I want to say this: HAHA!
Forget the glitches, Trump's X interview got worse when he started talking
Of course, things didn't get any better for Trump once the interview was able to go ahead.
Trump says AI did it: Trump blames AI on Harris' supporters, so let's all assume everything we don't like is fake!
He babbled on and on, babbled on about crowd size, immigration, President Joe Biden and whatever else was going through his mind. He also spoke poorly, asked questions about his health and did nothing to quell the 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 stink
Musk, meanwhile, has the interviewing skills of a stoned introvert. He’s done nothing but cheer Trump on and agree with every outlandish thing that comes out of his mouth, while occasionally taking the odd right-wing detours you’d expect from a man too rich to ever be told to shut up.
I'm not going to quote anything Trump said in the interview because it's either too stupid to be transcribed or it's just a rehash of the nonsense he spouts at every rally he holds.
Harris can beat Trump: I was wrong about Kamala Harris. And that's 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-something. Harris just recently went black. Blah, blah, blah.
Musk gave Trump the same gift he gave Ron DeSantis. Whomp whomp.
So for Trump, it was, in the words of one Donald J. Trump, “a DISASTER!” to sit down with a rich weirdo that few people like and to bullshit his way through an interview that never started.
Musk, with his social media incompetence and misplaced sense of self-importance, made DeSantis look like a fool. 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
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Who Let Trump and Musk Interview? X Wasn't the Only One Who Made a Mistake
