Trump, Musk Interview Marred By Tech Issues

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump sat Monday for a friendly two-hour interview with billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk on Musk's social media platform X, after technical problems delayed the start of the event for more than 40 minutes.

Reuters reports Musk, who has endorsed Trump, blamed the difficulties on a distributed denial-of-service attack, in which a server or network is flooded with traffic in an attempt to shut it down, though his claim could not be verified.

Trump sought to turn the problems into a positive, congratulating Musk on the number of people trying to tune in. A counter on X showed as many as 1.3 million people were listening at times during the lengthy conversation.

Trump during interview

The two men exchanged praise repeatedly, with the Tesla, opens new tab chief lauding Trump for his bravery during the attempt on his life last month, and Trump congratulating Musk for his willingness to fire workers demanding better conditions.

"You're the greatest cutter," Trump said. "I mean, I look at what you do. You walk in, you just say: 'You want to quit?' They go on strike - I won't mention the name of the company - but they go on strike. And you say: 'That's okay, you're all gone.'"

Musk, the world's richest person, announced his support for Trump shortly after his attempted assassination, despite the Republican's opposition to state support for electric carmakers like Tesla. Musk backed Democratic President Joe Biden in 2020 but has tacked rightward since.

"I think we're at a fork in the road of destiny, of civilization, and I think we need to take the right path, and I think you're the right path," he told Trump as the interview concluded.

The chat with Musk offered Trump an unfiltered chance to air his usual mix of grievances, personal attacks and overstated or false claims.

LISTEN: @elonmusk to @realDonaldTrump: “Your actions after that assassination attempt were inspiring. Instead of shying away from things, instead of ducking down, you were pumping your fist in the air and saying ‘fight, fight, fight.’ I think that is America. That is strength… pic.twitter.com/bNaRyg2ZH8

— TV News Now (@TVNewsNow) August 13, 2024

The talk was Trump's latest effort to seize the spotlight from his Democratic rival, Vice President Kamala Harris, whose 11th-hour entry into the race has galvanized her party and boosted Democratic fundraising.

Harris has dominated headlines with a series of high-energy rallies since she replaced Biden as the party's candidate three weeks ago. Her momentum could get another boost from the Democratic National Convention next week in Chicago.