Donald Trump's interview with Elon Musk on X sparked a flurry of online activity on Monday when some listeners noticed that the former president appeared to speak with a slight lisp. It was unclear whether Trump was simply misspeaking or if there was an audio problem, as the conversation on X began with multiple technical issues.
Trump has since gone viral on the social media, with both right-wing and left-wing users creating hundreds of memes mocking the ex-president and his voice, with one supporter even photoshopping Trump to resemble boxer Mike Tyson. Others drew comparisons between him and two well-known cartoon characters with lisps: Daffy Duck and Sylvester the Cat.
Memes of Trump Flood Social Media
"Iron Trump is giving a great interview. Lisp and all," wrote one supporter, referencing the boxing champion and 'Hangover' star's nickname.
"Trump low-key sounds like a cartoon on this Twitter space. His mic catches a crazy lisp," another user said.
"Trump sounded like he was slurring his words a bit. Did he get dental work done? Elon sounds like he always does," a third user wrote.
However, left-wing streamer Hasan Piker defended Trump, arguing that the audio quality of X Spaces often makes everyone sound that way. "It's probably due to audio compression issues but trump sounds like he has a lisp."
Journalist Michael Tracey also pointed out that he had experienced similar issues with the service. "Trump isn't slurring his words, I've also had that weird thing happen on Spaces where it sounds like I have a comically outrageous lisp."
Former CNN journalist Chris Cillizza speculated on how Trump might respond to the flood of memes circulating online about his alleged lisp.
"Trump lisp is SUPER pronounced. Probably the only thing he will care about when he reads coverage of this interview," he wrote.
Internet Divided
S.V. Date, the White House correspondent for the left-leaning Huffington Post, inquired with the Trump campaign about why the former president seemed to be slurring his speech. "Must be your s***ty hearing. Get your ears checked out," a spokesperson responded.
Musk's interview with former President Trump eventually started around 40 minutes late. He mentioned that the conversation would take place with a smaller audience and that he would release an audio recording afterward due to technical issues disrupting Monday night's schedule.
Musk said that his platform, X, had been subjected to a cyber-attack, which was the reason the Trump interview couldn't be accessed.
"We tested the system with 8 million concurrent listeners earlier today," the SpaceX and Tesla CEO insisted.
As X users tried to join Donald J. Trump's 'Space' to listen to his conversation with X owner Elon Musk, they were initially met with loud music. Eventually, the music ceased and a rustling noise was heard, followed by Trump seemingly muting his microphone.
The much-anticipated interview was scheduled to start at 8 p.m.
Musk, who had recently endorsed Trump following the assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, clarified that the Q&A would be a discussion rather than a confrontational interview.
"It's hard to catch a vibe about someone if you just don't hear them talk in a normal way," Musk said.
The technical issues affecting Trump's interview on Monday night were similar to the problems Florida Governor Ron DeSantis faced when he tried to launch his 2024 presidential campaign on the social media platform.
