Elon Musk backs Donald Trump soon after shots were fired at a gathering, hurting him

Nandini Roy Choudhury, writer

Brief news

• Former President Trump was escorted off stage at a rally in Pennsylvania due to gunfire, and Elon Musk announced his full endorsement of Trump on X.
• Musk shared a picture of Trump pumping his fist in the air and compared him to Theodore Roosevelt, who survived an assassination attempt.
• One person is dead and another is in critical condition after the shooting at the rally. Musk had previously expressed his opposition to President Joe Biden and had donated to a pro-Trump super PAC.

Detailed news

Moments after the former president and presumptive Republican nominee was escorted off the stage by secret service members in response to gunfire at a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday, Elon Musk announced on X that he “fully” endorses Trump.

Musk, who owns X, wrote on it, “I fully support President Trump and hope for his quick recovery.”

Trump was taken to a nearby hospital and is now getting care there. Someone who worked for him said that the former president “will be fine.” Trump’s side of the head and ear seemed to have blood on them.

Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, shared a picture of Trump pumping his fist in the air in a different post. The picture showed the American flag behind Trump, and secret service agents were rushing to protect him. Musk also said that Trump was like Theodore Roosevelt, who was running for president in 1912 and survived an attempt on his life.

There was a gathering in Butler County, and the district attorney says that one person who was there is dead and another is in bad condition. NBC News says the shooter is dead.

Before Saturday’s event, Musk hadn’t directly backed Trump, but he had made it clear that he didn’t want President Joe Biden to return to the White House. It was in March that he wrote that he was not going to give money to either presidential candidate.

This year, Musk met Trump at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach. At Tesla’s 2024 annual shareholder meeting, Musk said that he and Trump “had some conversations.” Musk also said at that event that Trump “calls me out of the blue for no reason.”

Bloomberg said on Friday that Musk had given a “undisclosed” “sizable” amount of money to America PAC, a pro-Trump super PAC.

Forbes says Musk has a net worth of about $250 billion, making him the richest person in the world.