SAN FRANCISCO — At 8:35 p.m. Eastern time Monday, a live audio stream on social platform X of a conversation between Elon Musk and former President Donald Trump flickered to life after a 35-minute delay — but only for a moment.
Trump’s mic came on, and a shuffling sound was heard. A second later, his mic cut out. Musk’s account, which had been logged in and ready, then momentarily disappeared from the conversation entirely.
Seven minutes later, the glitches appeared to be resolved, and the discussion began. Musk, who has endorsed Trump’s presidential run, and Trump greeted each other as “Donald” and “Elon.” They then began a friendly chat about immigration, the economy and President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee. The two men talked for more than two hours with more than 1 million people listening in at the same time, according to X.
“I congratulate you,” Trump, who appeared to lisp at times, said to Musk about the livestream’s audience. “Do I get paid for this or what?”
The conversation had been billed as a triumphant moment for the social platform, which Musk bought in 2022. He had been trying to woo Trump to become active again on a site he once wielded like a megaphone before being barred in 2021 and then, by Musk’s doing, reinstated. In the end, the event’s bumpy beginning and ensuing banter showcased both the weaknesses and strengths of X under Musk.
The hiccups getting the livestream going renewed questions about X’s ability to handle high-profile events. Without providing evidence, Musk blamed the snafu on a “massive” distributed denial-of-service attack, a type of cyberattack that uses floods of malicious web traffic to overwhelm sites and knock them offline.
Yet the event also illustrated how Musk can propel X into the spotlight and draw large audiences by building relationships with major public figures, using the site to further his own political interests.
After the chat concluded, Linda Yaccarino, X’s CEO, said Trump’s campaign appearance on X was a win for the platform, calling it “wide ranging, unscripted and wildly refreshing.” Musk and X did not respond to requests for comment.
Trump’s campaign brushed off X’s technical glitches, suggesting that the problems were the work of Chinese adversaries and calling the former president “a fighter.”
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
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