LOS ANGELES: Donald Trump ran through his checklist of conspiracy theories in a rambling conversation with his uber-wealthy supporter Elon Musk that was initially derailed by what the tech titan said was a technical glitch.
Trump vented about a "zombie apocalypse" of immigration, repeatedly blasted President Joe Biden as "stupid", and mused on developing a new missile defense system based on the one that defends Israel.
The Republican standard-bearer also dismissed climate change, whose sea-level rises he said would simply create more real estate opportunities.
"The biggest threat is not global warming, where the ocean is going to rise one-eighth of an inch over the next 400 years," he told Musk. "You'll have more ocean front property, right? The biggest threat is not that. The biggest threat is nuclear warming, because we have five countries now that have significant nuclear power, and we have to not allow anything to happen with stupid people like Biden." What was billed as a "no limits" conversation between the two started more than half an hour late, with many of those logging on unable to listen in live.
Musk, the world's richest man according to Forbes, claimed the platform formerly known as Twitter had experienced a cyber "attack."
The conversation was intended to help reinvigorate Trump's stuttering campaign, which has flagged since Biden dropped out of the race, to be replaced by a surging Kamala Harris. More than a million users listened in live to the conversation on X.
Musk, who has said he previously voted Democrat, has thrown his weight and his wealth behind Trump since a gunman tried to assassinate the Republican at a rally last month.
Trump was banned from Twitter after a mob of his supporters stormed the US Capitol in January 2021, but Musk reinstated him when he took the platform over and renamed it. — AFP
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