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Donald Trump has tried to blame the “complexity of modern technology” for his “strange” apparent lisp during his live interview with Elon Musk.
The former president joined the tech billionaire on X Spaces on Monday night for what was billed as a game-changing “conversation.”
But instead of the content of the almost two-hour-long event, listeners were transfixed with the sound of Trump’s voice.
Alongside a 40-minute delay, Trump making more than 20 false claims, and branding his presidential rival Vice President Kamala Harris “beautiful” like his wife Melania Trump, one other thing stole the show: his seeming struggle to pronounce the “s” sound.
Now, the Republican presidential nominee has responded to the speculation, offering an explanation for why his voice sounded “different and strange” – and encouraging Americans to listen to a cleaned-up version of the audio.
“My conversation with Elon last night was heard by a RECORD audience, and was really something special, as Elon himself is very special – and I thank him for such a strong Endorsement!” he wrote on Truth Social on Wednesday morning.
“Unfortunately, because of the complexity of modern day equipment, and cellphone technology, my voice was, in certain areas, somewhat different and strange,” he added.
“Therefore, we have put out an actual, and perfect, recording of the conversation. ENJOY!!!”
On Tuesday evening, 24 hours after the interview initially went live, Musk and Trump re-uploaded a “perfect” version of the interview on X where the former president’s speech was more pronounced.
Social media users had been quick to question why Trump appeared to be slurring and have a lisp – something that he does not normally speak with – in Monday night’s interview.
“Did Trump pause campaign rallies because of this massive lisp he has on this Twitter interview with Elon?” one person asked on X.
“Is it just me….. What is wrong with trumps voice [sic]??” another added. “Sound like he has a lisp??”
The Late Show host Stephen Colbert also made a jibe at Trump, claiming he sounded like his “teeth grew three inches overnight,” before parodying the former president in a brutal dissection of the interview.
The Harris campaign also joined in on the action, saying that “Trump’s words were extremely slurred as he phoned in from Mar-a-Lago last night” in a post on X.
A Trump campaign spokesperson had previously responded furiously to the interest in his voice.
“Must be your s****y hearing. Get your ears checked,” they said in response to a question from the Huffington Post.
Rather than a hard-hitting interview, Musk peppered Trump with softball questions, with the meet descending into a two-hour, very friendly chat that was instantly beset with tech problems.
Throughout, the former president reverted to his usual soundbites surrounding the US-Mexico border and President Joe Biden being “close to vegetable state”.
Musk has now offered to interview Kamala Harris on his X Spaces platform.
Her campaign team slated the Trump interview as two “self-obsessed rich guys who will sell out the middle class and who cannot run a livestream in the year 2024.”
