As U.S. Business Leaders Decry Capitol Rampage, An Elon Musk Joke On Twitter Falls Flat

Elon Musk has never been known for restraint on Twitter, but the billionaire entrepreneur may have outdone himself with a tone-deaf attempt at humor the day after a mob of Trump supporters rampaged through the U.S. Capitol. 

The Tesla

TSLA
and SpaceX CEO, who last year used his social media account to downplay the risk of Covid-19 and railed against public health officials for forcing the suspension of production work at his California plant in the early days of the pandemic, posted a widely shared picture of one of the most recognizable members of the mob, the so-called “QAnon Shaman” Jake Angeli, posing in the Senate chamber, with the legend,“This is what happens when you cancel burning man.”

In an earlier tweet, he appeared to assign some blame for the chaotic events in Washington, D.C. to Facebook, without explicitly identifying the company or founder Mark Zuckerberg.

Musk’s comments via social media stand in sharp contrast to public statements by leading U.S. business people and organizations in response to yesterday’s events, most notably, the National Association of Manufacturers. “This is chaos. It is mob rule. It is dangerous. This is sedition and should be treated as such,” NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons said Wednesday. 

General Motor

GM
s CEO and Chairman Mary Barra used her Twitter account to emphasize the need for Americans to unite against Wednesday’s events. “The peaceful transition of power is a cornerstone of American democracy, and regardless of politics the violence at the U.S. Capitol does not reflect who we are as a nation. It’s imperative that we come together as a country and reinforce the values and ideals that unite us.” 

Likewise, Apple

AAPL
CEO Tim Cook tweeted to decry the mob assault on Congress. “Today marks a sad and shameful chapter in our nation’s history. Those responsible for this insurrection should be held to account, and we must complete the transition to President-elect Biden’s administration. It’s especially when they are challenged that our ideals matter most,” he said. 

Over the years Musk has gotten into legal trouble with his tweets, from falsely claiming he’d secured financing to take Tesla private in 2018 to being sued for defamation after calling a man who assisted in the rescue of a group of boys trapped in a cave in Thailand “pedo guy,” yet hasn’t altered his style much. And unlike Trump, who’s been kicked off of Facebook and suspended from Twitter, there’s no indication that Musk’s bad jokes will result in a similar fate. 

Separately, Musk’s wealth has ballooned to a record $175.6 billion this week, with the rapid escalation of Tesla’s share price. Bloomberg now ranks him as the world’s wealthiest person, though Forbes’ estimate indicates that he still trails Amazon’s

AMZN
Jeff Bezos, who has a net worth of $186.6 billion as of Jan. 7.