Elon Musk promised entertainment was guaranteed and Donald Trump painted it as “the interview of the century”.
But the high-profile interview, which was to be broadcast via X audio function Spaces during the night of Tuesday, became a bit of an anticlimax.
Major technical issues hit X and thousands of users were met with error messages when trying to log in.
Elon Musk wrote in a post before the interview began that it “seems like” the platform was subjected to an overload attack, a so-called ddos attack. However, it was questioned by many users, as the rest of the platform worked as usual.
40 minutes late
Only 40 minutes after the appointed time could the interview begin, then with over a million logged-in listeners according to X.
It all started with a long conversation about the assassination attempt on Donald Trump in Pennsylvania in July.
“I didn’t know I had that much blood,” Trump said of the injury, adding that his faith in God is stronger after the incident.
Elon Musk asked critical questions about the Secret Service’s actions in the assassination attempt, but Trump mostly responded by praising their efforts. However, a cautious questioning arose regarding how the shooter could get to the roof from where he fired the shots.
Repeated positions
The more than two-hour conversation provided few new insights into Trump’s plans for a possible second term. Instead, it was largely about topics that the former president had previously spoken about.
Among other things, he attacked Vice President Kamala Harris for her immigration policies, criticized President Joe Biden for failing to prevent the wars in Gaza and Ukraine, and insisted that the United States was a better country when he was president.
Trump also repeated unsubstantiated claims that other countries would knowingly send violent criminals to the United States.
Elon Musk, who previously emphasized that he wanted the meeting to be more of a conversation between him and Trump than a full-fledged interview, appeared to stand by that. He mostly agreed with what Trump said in the conversation, which was characterized throughout by a friendly tone.