Elon Musk's much-anticipated interview with former President Donald Trump on X, formerly known as Twitter, got off to a rocky start on Monday night, plagued by technical difficulties that led to a delayed broadcast and frustrations among the millions of users attempting to join the event. The interview, billed as a significant moment in Trump's 2024 presidential campaign, quickly became a case study in the unpredictability of live streaming technology and the vulnerabilities of social media platforms.
The interview was set to begin at 8 p.m. ET, with Musk and Trump ready to discuss various topics in what was hyped as an "unscripted" and "highly entertaining" conversation. However, as the start time approached, users reported widespread issues accessing the live stream on X's platform. By 8:20 p.m., Musk took to the platform to explain the situation, attributing the delay to what he described as a "massive cyberattack" on X's servers. He noted that earlier in the day, the platform had successfully tested its system with 8 million concurrent listeners, suggesting that the problems were unexpected and possibly the result of malicious interference.
Musk's explanation, however, raised eyebrows. Despite his claims of a cyberattack, there were no clear indications of one, and other parts of X continued to function normally throughout the evening. The lack of definitive evidence of an attack left many speculating whether the issue was simply due to an overwhelming number of users attempting to access the stream simultaneously, reminiscent of previous technical failures on the platform.
The interview eventually began around 8:45 p.m. ET, nearly an hour late, with at least one million users tuning in according to X's metrics. Musk, visibly frustrated, opened the discussion by apologizing for the delay and reiterating his belief that the issues were caused by external forces opposed to Trump's message. "This massive attack illustrates there's a lot of opposition to people just hearing what President Trump has to say, but I'm honored to have this conversation," Musk stated.
The technical snafu was reminiscent of a similar incident in 2023, when Florida Governor Ron DeSantis attempted to launch his presidential campaign on X through a live Twitter Spaces event with Musk. That event was also marred by technical difficulties, leading to delays and a significantly smaller audience than anticipated. At the time, Trump had mocked DeSantis' botched launch, calling it a "DISASTER!" on his own social media platform, Truth Social.
In a twist of irony, Trump's own event with Musk faced similar challenges, providing fodder for his political opponents. Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign, which has an account on Truth Social, quickly seized the opportunity to remind Trump of his past criticism of DeSantis, sharing his previous comments as Trump's own event faltered.
Despite the rocky start, the interview eventually proceeded, with Trump discussing various topics, including his near-death experience during an assassination attempt at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, in July. He praised the Secret Service for their swift action in neutralizing the threat and used the platform to further his narrative of being a political target.
In the hours leading up to the interview, Trump had made his return to X, posting for the first time in nearly a year. His posts included a two-and-a-half-minute campaign video highlighting his legal battles and portraying himself as a defender of American freedom. The video echoed themes that have become central to his campaign, such as his fight against what he calls the "deep state" and his commitment to restoring America's greatness.
Musk had promoted the interview as a major event that would captivate audiences, writing on X the day before that it would be "unscripted with no limits on subject matter, so should be highly entertaining!" However, the technical difficulties overshadowed much of the content, leaving many users frustrated and the event falling short of the high expectations set by its organizers.
