Hillary Clinton criticized Tesla CEO Elon Musk for threatening to “rape” Taylor Swift after she endorsed Kamala Harris for president.
Swift declared her support for Harris immediately after the debate, and took a jab Trump’s VP pick, JD Vance, when she signed the post, “Taylor Swift, Childless Cat Lady.”
Musk responded on his social media platform X with a post that clearly offended Clinton. “Fine Taylor … you win…I will give you a child and guard your cats with my life,” he tweeted.
In an interview on Kara Swisher’s podcast, Clinton expressed her bewilderment at Musk’s comments, saying, “I can’t understand why he says what he says. It just is beyond my imagination.”
Fine Taylor … you win … I will give you a child and guard your cats with my life
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 11, 2024
She continued, “Whether it’s Trump or Musk or any other so-called masters of the universe in the technology world, misogyny is such a part of their worldview, and they gravitate toward toughness and brutality and machoism.”
Clinton told the host that Musk’s “rotten and creepy” post saying he would “impregnate” Swift was “kind of another way of saying rape I think.”
She also claimed that by her endorsement of Harris was a “trigger” for Trump, who posted “I hate Taylor Swift” on Sunday in response.
I Hate Taylor Swift – President Trump
Retweet if you agree! pic.twitter.com/yuLgVahH4Q
— Alec Lace (@AlecLace) September 15, 2024
“Here’s Taylor Swift, a self-made billionaire who brings joy to people who imparts life lessons, particularly to girls and women. They can’t stand it,” the former Secretary of State alleged.
“I mean, if it had happened before the debate, it would’ve overpowered the debate,” she claimed.
“The fact that it happened right after the debate and just added to Kamala’s momentum must have just set them all off.”
Musk also waded into hot water this week when he tweeted that “no one is even trying to assassinate” President Joe Biden or Vice President Kamala Harris, following a thwarted assassination attempt on Trump when he was playing golf on Sunday.
Is Hillary Clinton trolling us? She’s literally inciting political violence against Trump a day after he survived a second attempt on his life. Claiming Trump is a danger to the world is a call to action. pic.twitter.com/C2hoZLWdTf
— @amuse (@amuse) September 17, 2024
His post, which has since been deleted, was in response to an X user asking, “Why they want to kill Donald Trump?”
White House spokesperson Andrew Bates responded to Musk’s post, stating, “Violence should only be condemned, never encouraged or joked about. This rhetoric is irresponsible.”
In response to his controversial post, Musk wrote, “Well, one lesson I’ve learned is that just because I say something to a group and they laugh doesn’t mean it’s going to be all that hilarious as a post on X.”
In an interview with Katie Couric on Monday, Clinton claimed that she reacted in “horror” to Trump almost being assassinated again, which she said was a “terrible thing.”
However, she couldn’t resist jabbing at Trump for chumming the waters for potential predators.
“This is such a terrible thing to happen twice in our country in a relatively short period of time, and it’s frightening to see violence being threatened and used in a political campaign,” she told the journalist.
Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, allegedly shoved a rifle through the fence at Trump’s West Palm Beach golf course in Florida while Trump was golfing. He was fired upon by a Secret Service agent and arrested after fleeing in his car.
“He believed the rhetoric of Biden and Harris, and he acted on it,” Trump said in a Monday morning interview with Fox News.
“Their rhetoric is causing me to be shot at, when I am the one who is going to save the country, and they are the ones that are destroying the country — both from the inside and out.”
Trump also posted a statement on Truth Social that blamed the White House for taking politics to a “whole new level of Hatred, Abuse, and Distrust.”
“I do worry about political violence. I worry about threats. I worry about what’s being said online,” she responded to Trump’s remarks.
“If he were really a leader, he should be doing what he can to calm the waters, not try to just continue to throw red meat out there to get people riled up.”
She noted that the 45th president has a track record of keeping people agitated, angry, and upset.
“I think it helps to have some sense of history and to know that in many society’s political systems, people who have an ability to connect with the fears, and the insecurities, and the anger and the hatreds of people in their society are very effective demagogues,” she explained.
Clinton spoke about the pop star again when Couric noticed she was wearing a Swift-inspired friendship bracelet.
“I love having them because I love Taylor Swift,” Clinton said about the bracelet, which was gifted to her by a member of the audience.
“I am somebody who believes there are many, many, many different doors that can open to bring somebody to voting, and voting for a particular candidate, and celebrities can do that,” she said about the importance of Swift’s endorsement.
“Somebody who may not think much about voting—they’re young, or they’re busy, or whatever the reason might be—that can break through. I think all of that makes a difference,” she noted.