On August 12, 2024, the much-anticipated interview between Tesla CEO Elon Musk and former President Donald Trump, broadcast on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter), was marred by significant technical difficulties. During the live event, Musk reported that a large-scale distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack had targeted the platform, overwhelming it with excessive traffic and causing severe glitches. The attack led to interruptions and system overloads, affecting the smooth delivery of the interview.
Musk disclosed the disruption to viewers less than 20 minutes into the conversation, revealing that the platform was experiencing a flood of meaningless queries designed to induce system failure. Despite the technical challenges, Musk assured the audience that the interview would continue with a reduced live viewership and promised that an unedited audio version of the discussion would be made available shortly. Downdetector, a site that monitors outages, confirmed a significant spike in complaints about X, corroborating the scale of the disruption.
The timing of the attack has sparked speculation about potential motives behind it. Some users on X have suggested that political opponents or critics might have orchestrated the DDoS attack to sabotage the high-profile interview. However, Musk has not provided a detailed explanation or incident report to address these theories. The interview’s high public interest was evident, with over 15 million viewers accessing the playback despite the initial technical issues.
This incident is not unprecedented for X. In May 2023, a similar event featuring Florida Governor Ron DeSantis faced delays and glitches, which Musk attributed to server strain. Critics have linked the platform’s ongoing technical issues to Musk’s restructuring efforts, including significant staff reductions. Despite these challenges, the Musk-Trump interview, which covered topics such as Trump’s recent assassination attempt and his political plans, ultimately continued to attract substantial viewership, highlighting the enduring public interest in high-profile discussions.
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