Welcome back in for Al’s Afternoon Tea, our chance to stop and sample some of the latest news and headlines. And today, the latest is the conversation between Elon Musk and former President Donald Trump on X.

A Billion Viewers Tune in

“Did you get in?” That was the question of the evening, as tens of millions of people tried repeatedly to get into the Musk-Trump event on Donald Trump’s X account last night. A massive cyberattack, specifically a DDOS attack, blocked access within seconds of the scheduled start time.

Musk’s team worked around that as well as problems raised by the overwhelming demand, and after about 35 minutes, the talk got underway.

Musk and the former president gabbed for two hours. According to Musk, the event and subsequent discussions about it garnered one billion views and counting … despite the effort to sabotage it.

Combined views of the conversation with @realDonaldTrump and subsequent discussion by other accounts now ~1 billion https://t.co/s8x8QmdmnY

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 13, 2024

And you think Tom Cruise jumping off the Olympic Stadium roof was an impressive feat?

If you missed the Musk-Trump talk, here it is:

X SPACES CONVERSATION BETWEEN ELON AND TRUMP

0:00 Attack on 𝕏 servers and introduction

2:14: Assassination attempt on Trump and miracle survival

20:04: Stopping illegal immigration

36:27: Importance of a strong president

49:59: Inflation, debt and government spending… pic.twitter.com/oPv1atAmAR

— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) August 13, 2024

So What’d They Say? “I’m More of a Believer.”

Billed as an interview between the tech mogul and former president, it more like a freewheeling, rambling chat between two very bright friends with short attention spans jawboning over dinner, and we just got to eavesdrop on the conversation.

Musk opened by asking about the assassination attempt. Trump called his survival a miracle.

“You know, I’m a believer. Now I’m more of a believer, I think,” he said. “A lot of great people have said that to me. It was amazing that I happened to be turned just at that perfect angle.

“For those who don’t believe in God, I think we all need to start thinking about that.”

Musk volunteered to serve on a government efficiency commission in a second Trump term, to ensure “taxpayer money … is spent in a good way.”

“I would love it!” Trump responded, complimenting the tech mogul on his own ability to streamline costs.

(How about such a commission chaired by Vivek Ramaswamy, cochaired by Musk, who, of course, already has several day jobs?)

Trump spoke often about the disaster at the border, and not only Harris’s failure to address it, but her current push to claim she was never the border czar and now will fix the problem. He also slammed her for stealing his “no taxes on tips” pledge and declared her a “radical left lunatic.”

Musk explained why he — formerly a moderate Democrat who once stood in line for six hours to shake Obama’s hand — decided to endorse the former president: “You are the path to prosperity, and I think Kamala is the opposite.”

Trump reiterated that he doesn’t need to be running for office, given the great life he has. “This is so much more important than me or my life,” he said. “We are fighting for our country.”

Harris Team Responds

Kamala Harris’s team offered “Our statement on … whatever that was.” (For the record, Madame Vice President, it’s called an “interview.” We recommend try participating in one some time soon.)

The statement blasted Trump and Musk as “self-obsessed rich guys” and mocked the fact that the event was delayed by a cyberattack and overwhelming demand.

Our statement on… whatever that was pic.twitter.com/bOZfUu8rbk

— Kamala HQ (@KamalaHQ) August 13, 2024

The Harris campaign also blasted the event in a fundraising pitch, using the rather odd tactic of saying that Musk letting Trump speak and allowing X to be an open forum for ideas and debate is somehow an effort to “control our democracy.”

There were no such complaints from Harris or her boss when Twitter was censoring speech and Mark Zuckerburg was buying control of election offices in swing states in order to fix the 2020 presidential race.

One sign their response was less than serious? It opens with the words, “Right now, Elon Musk is interviewing Donald Trump on Twitter. (No, we’re not going to call it X.)” They’re deadnaming a company?! That’s like saying, “I’m so mad at Exxon over fossil fuels, I’m going to call it Esso!”

Musk did offer Harris the same opportunity to come on X with him. No word yet on whether she’ll accept.

Legacy News Media Dead?

The legacy media, which had to be looking at the numbers and seeing its goose cooked, was also not impressed with the chat.

Let’s see how the MSM is reacting to the Elon/Trump Space pic.twitter.com/x7boQfi09a

— Julia 🇺🇸 (@Jules31415) August 13, 2024

Seeing The New York Times accuse Trump of having an alleged “lisp” is no surprise. What is surprising — and a bit unnerving — is that The Washington Post’s Cleve Woodson actually asked the White House yesterday if they could, pretty please, block the Musk-Trump interview. Because of, well, you know, “misinformation.” 

WATCH: Washington Post 'journalist' asks the White House if they can stop Trump's interview with Elon Musk on 𝕏

"I think that misinformation on Twitter is not just a campaign issue…it's an America issue…What role does the White House or the President have? Any sort of… pic.twitter.com/trGO1LnYXr

— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) August 12, 2024

Yes, that came from The Washington Post. The “democracy dies in darkness” people wanted the federal government to block the GOP presidential candidate from speaking on a private media platform.

It seems as though the WaPo is in the same camp as those who are desperate to bring about the darkness. As we mentioned yesterday, the EU threatened Musk over his planned interview with Trump.

With great audience comes greater responsibility #DSA

As there is a risk of amplification of potentially harmful content in 🇪🇺 in connection with events with major audience around the world, I sent this letter to @elonmusk

📧⤵️ pic.twitter.com/P1IgxdPLzn

— Thierry Breton (@ThierryBreton) August 12, 2024

Is It Trump or Shane Gillis?

On the lighter side …

Comedian Shane Gillis is known for doing a spot-on, hilarious impersonation of Trump. During the Musk chat, there was a moment when you couldn’t be sure whether it was Trump or Gillis talking about how Russian President Vladimir Putin was convinced not to invade Ukraine while Trump was in office.

PRESIDENT TRUMP:

I told Putin, "Don't do it!" — and I told him what I'd do if he did.

He said, "No way."

I said, "WAY."

🔥🔥🔥#TrumpOnX pic.twitter.com/pCnkHDquZg

— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) August 13, 2024

On The Stream Menu

As promised, Albin Sadar’s interview with Megan Basham is up: “During the COVID Panic, Our ‘Shepherds’ Worked for the Wolves.” 

From Northern Ireland, Jamie Bambrick writes, “Only God Can Save Britain Now.” 

From William Kilpatrick, “Pope Francis Wants to Humanize the Church, Not Help Sinners, Part One.” 

 

Al Perrotta is The Stream’s Washington bureau chief, coauthor with John Zmirak of The Politically Incorrect Guide to Immigration, and coauthor of the counterterrorism memoir Hostile Intent: Protecting Yourself Against Terrorism.