On election eve Elon Musk's virtual town hall ends in chaos, netizens wonder, how can he promise ‘govt efficiency’

Within minutes Elon Musk had to cancel his virtual town hall on X due to technical difficulties.

Elon Musk's plans to end the election campaign for Donald Trump on a high went for a toss as the tech giant was forced to end his virtual town hall on X within minutes.

(FILES) Tesla CEO Elon Musk speaks on stage during a campaign rally with former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at site of his first assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania on October 5, 2024. Billionaire Elon Musk was expected in court in Philadelphia on October 31, 2024, after a judge ordered him to attend a hearing in a lawsuit seeking to halt his $1 million giveaways to registered US voters in swing states. (Photo by Jim WATSON / AFP)(AFP)

Scheduled for 8 p.m. ET, the stream began over 20 minutes late where Musk promoted his interview with Joe Rogan and invited questions. However, when the operator tried to connect listeners, the audio failed.

The operator asked Musk if he believes “we will win” on Tuesday, referring to Trump, whom Musk has supported to the tune of tens of millions of dollars.

“Well, I think if people vote tomorrow, we’re definitely going to win,” he said.

But soon canceled the event due to the persistent glitches.

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Musk then called off the event, saying, “Let’s cancel this, since we seem to be having some technical issues.”

Following the failed town hall, Musk started an X Spaces stream, which also flopped after a silent minute. He then quickly pivoted to discussing unrelated topics, including the viral story about a euthanized squirrel, and redirected followers to his Rogan interview, where Rogan endorsed Trump.

This isn’t Musk’s first brush with technical mishaps in election-related events on X.

Netizens were quick to question how can some one like him be in-charge of ‘government efficiency’. Tobi wrote, “he can’t even organise a group call despite being the owner of one of the biggest social networks and multiple technology companies in the world.”

“Oh, the irony. I thought he was a tech genius,” stated another.

A prior August interview with Trump faced a 40-minute delay, blamed on a purported cyberattack, though experts suggested it might have been user overload. Similarly, a glitch-riddled launch for Ron DeSantis' campaign last year saw a 25-minute delay. These repeated failures highlight ongoing technical challenges on X, even as Musk pushes it as a key platform for political discourse.