Elon Musk attended President Trump's first cabinet meeting today and spoke in defense of DOGE saying it was necessary to make budget cuts because "If we don't do this, America will go bankrupt."

Elon Musk says he’s getting “a lot of flak” and death threats for his work with DOGE aimed at overhauling the federal government and making budget cuts, but insists, “If we don’t do this, America will go bankrupt. That’s why it has to be done.” https://t.co/NQNBx0Q1xi pic.twitter.com/TAMPnOobdl

— ABC News (@ABC) February 26, 2025

As you can see, Musk also noted that he's getting a lot of death threats and there certainly have been several instances which have made national news. I think David posted this video on Monday. Note the response to it up top.

Duly noted. Thx for letting us know. We’ll put you in the system. Talk soon, M’am. #NoOneIsAboveTheLaw https://t.co/zCMohyeHML

— U.S. Attorney Ed Martin (@USAEdMartin) February 24, 2025

That person has been identified but so far I haven't seen an update beyond the fact that she deleted all of her social media after this went viral. I think she's about to find out as they say.

There's another example of this in the news which broke last week. An Indiana man named David Allen June Cherry was arrested after sending a string of threats to Musk on X:

“We’re gunning you down, Muskrat,” Cherry allegedly wrote on X on December 6, in response to a post from Musk commenting on the assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson two days earlier.

“I’ve got enough bullets for his b—- a– and all the rest of you manchildren,” he is reported to have written in another post dated January 22, responding to a post by controversial influencer Andrew Tate about Musk...

“You’re robbing the American people. We will gut you and parade your corpse through the streets,” he wrote in a second post.

“I’m going to plant a bomb in Elon Musk’s house,” he wrote in the final post, dated February 16, two days before police in Texas contacted their Indiana counterparts.

Police found and arrested Cherry and he admitted to having posted from the account in question:

After receiving his Miranda warning, he confirmed he posted under the account in question. He said he made the post to be “edgy” and receive reactions online, and that he never intended to do Musk harm.

He was definitely edgy. Cherry pleaded not guilty to one count of making terroristic threats. His attorney says the First Amendment should protect him from consequences in this case as it was all just "political speech."

“There’s no question that one of the elements will be concerning political speech. Political speech has kind of the highest place in our constitutional hierarchy of what’s allowed, and there’s no question what the state says may have happened would be political speech,” said Defense Attorney Bart Betteau.

But the prosecutor doesn't see it that way.

“You have no greater right to possess surface-to-air missiles under the Second Amendment than you do to make true threats under the First, so every constitutional guarantee, and we take an oath to uphold those, they all have certain limitations,” said Harrison County Prosecutor Otto Schalk (R-Harrison County).

Someone set up a GoFundMe account for Cherry which claims his speech was just "rhetorical hyperbole." The page includes a screenshot of one message in which Cherry wrote "This man needs to be shot" in response to Musk. 

He did nothing more than voice an opinion on social media (shown in photo 2). Something everyone, everywhere does every day, but because his opinion was about a billionaire, the government has decided he is no longer entitled to his First Amendment rights. At worst, he engaged in Political Hyperbole, which is protected by the Supreme Court.

The GoFundMe page doesn't mention Cherry's other threats including "I’m going to plant a bomb in Elon Musk’s house." It should go without saying that making threats to kill people or plant bombs because you don't like their politics is not a normal response and not something everyone does every day.

If convicted he could face a $10,000 fine and up to six years in prison. Of course he probably won't get anything like that unless he has prior convictions. My guess is if he's convicted he'll get a smaller fine and probation. His trial is set for August so we'll have to wait a few months to find out what happens.

Democrats have decided to make Elon Musk public enemy #1, just as they did to Trump before the election. As we all know, two different deranged people sought to assassinate Trump and one nearly succeeded. It would be nice if the people who constantly blather on about the "climate of hate" when talking about right-wing rhetoric would dial it back a notch, but I don't think they will.