Elon Musk’s role as a father criticised as ‘concerning’ footage surfaces from Trump rally

Elon Musk’s relationship with his children has continued to make headlines in recent weeks, what with the Tesla and Twitter/X boss reportedly ‘entering a legal battle with Ashley St Clair over custody of his 13th child’, taking X Æ A-Xii into the Oval Office (much to his mother, Grimes’, frustration) and receiving desperate pleas from the musician about addressing one of their children’s ‘medical crises’.

Now, a video has surfaced of Musk walking off a stage and appearing to leave his four-year-old son, X, to walk down the steps on his own – which social media users have claimed is him ‘forgetting’ his own child in “concerning” footage.

Although the clip has circulated online over the past few days, it seems to have been recorded in the Capital One Arena in Washington D.C. on 19 January, when then US president-elect Donald Trump held his victory rally on the eve of his inauguration.

Photos from Getty Images show Musk and X wearing – respectively - the same black suit and red jumper they are seen sporting in the viral video.

One Twitter/X user since responded to the clip to say it provides “insight” into Musk’s character:

Others slammed the billionaire for ‘using’ X as a “human shield” and “prop”:

But another claimed it was already “pretty clear” prior to the video going viral that Musk is “a deadbeat father”:

Posts sharing the footage have since been hit with a Community Note to point towards a longer video, in which X is seen running along the red stage before being called over by Musk, and towards the end of the video, after noticing X is still on the steps behind him, the SpaceX owner turns back towards his son.

Except this extended cut failed to convince people that the incident is not “f***ing weird”:

“The way he left the child can’t be good,” argued another:

However, others defended Musk, with one writing that "accidents can happen":

Others suggested the pair had security looking out for them:

Musk is yet to comment on the video, but his representatives have been approached by indy100 for comment.

Why not read…

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