Elon Musk's 'interview' with Donald Trump was an embarrassing disaster (2024)

Elon Musk spoke with Donald Trump on X Monday night — even Musk had the good sense not to call it an interview — and it was every bit as unhinged and worthless as you would expect.

Marred by technical glitches (it started 42 minutes late because of what Musk said was a denial of service attack, though Verge reported that wasn't true), it was also something neither man would ever admit to, because to them it's the ultimate sin, even worse than lying or amplifying crazy conspiracy theories or cozying up with white supremacists.

It was boring.

It was also nuts. And frankly embarrassing. It wasn't even a conversation, really, more of a meeting of the two most enthusiastic members of the Donald Trump Appreciation Society. Musk was a fawning lackey, though he did occasionally try to steer Trump back toward coherence. Good luck with that. It was the grating sound of two people who love the sound of their own voice indulging themselves for more than two hours. It was the sound of two people who haven't heard the word "no" in a long time indulging their egos. It was an absolute train wreck.

Trump returned to X before the 'interview'

Trump returned to X, formerly known as Twitter, earlier Monday for the occasion; he was suspended from Twitter after the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. In the interim he started Truth Social, his preferred space for rants, complaints and accusations. Musk lifted the suspension, but Trump didn't post until Monday.

So did his team, calling the chat "the biggest interview in history" and the "interview of the century."

It was not.

After Musk blaming the delay on the supposed attack and saying it "illustrates there’s a lot of opposition to people just hearing what President Trump has to say," they talked about the assassination attempt on Trump, with Musk praising him effusively. "That is America," he said. "That is strength under fire." In a hint of the level of questioning that was to come, Musk also called Trump shaking his fist afterwards as "incredibly inspiring. What was that like for you?"

"Not that pleasant," Trump said.

For the record, Trump sounded as if he had a lisp, something that was a big topic of discussion on social media. Whether it was a technical issue or something else was not clear, but it was clearly noticeable.

They went on for about 20 minutes talking about the shooting, managing to make even that sound dull. (Trump's description of it during the Republican National Convention was far more compelling.) They moved on to rail against illegal immigration — Trump kept trying to go back to the assassination attempt, but Musk pulled him over to immigration — and Trump repeated false claims that countries are emptying their "asylums" (some think he confuses people in psychiatric hospitals with those seeking political asylums) as well as his usual rants.

Trump also called Biden's decision not to run for reelection as a "coup."

Musk said, "They just took him out behind the shed and basically shot him." This was the level of brilliant conversation on display.

Not to fall back on the word that seems to vex Trump so much, but it was really weird. One segment was devoted to tough-guy talk about dictators — as in, praising them. "Is the American president intimidating or not intimidating, and how important that is to American security," Musk asked.

Trump and Musk praised dictators and strongmen

Trump said of the likes of Russian President Vladamir Putin and North Korea's dictator Kim Jong Un, "They’re at the top of their game — they’re tough, they’re smart, they’re vicious and they’re going to protect their country."

Whose side is he on?

It went on in similar fashion. And on. And on. In case you were wondering where Musk stood on the 2024 election, "I think we're in massive trouble with a Kamala (Harris) administration," he said. "I think it's essential for the good of the country that you win this election."

You know the drill. Trump said Harris isn't smart. Musk railed against "lawfare." Trump said Harris couldn't conduct this kind of conversation; Musk fell all over himself to agree. Both of them attacked President Joe Biden. "It's clearly like we don't have a president right now," Musk said.

Trump clearly is struggling to control the narrative in the ways that he is used to as Kamala Harris (whose name he insists on mispronouncing) — and mainstream media is finally not playing along with his games. Whether his disastrous appearance at the National Association of Black Journalists, his unbelievably lie-filled news conference at Mar-a-Lago or whatever this was, his attempts to crawl his way back into the spotlight are not doing him any favors.

Unless you think that comparing a drawing of Harris on the cover of Time magazine with your wife is normal behavior. His recent attempt to regain control of the narrative brings to mind the "give 'em enough rope" saying. Trump's camp will spin this 20 different ways from Sunday, but it was an unmitigated disaster.

It makes you wonder what he'll do next, and whether it could be any worse.

Reach Goodykoontz atbill.goodykoontz@arizonarepublic.com. Facebook:facebook.com/GoodyOnFilm. X:@goodyk. Subscribe tothe weekly movies newsletter.

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