Does Elon Musk have a stutter?

On Aug. 12, 2024, Donald Trump returned to X by having a two-hour chat with the company’s owner, Elon Musk, on its Spaces platform. Trump’s comeback hogged much of the attention — just how he likes it — as did the fact he lisped his way through the event, but another apparent speech impediment garnered plenty of attention too.

Many listeners were convinced the chat revealed that Musk has a stutter, as he stumbled over his words and struggled to express himself. This led to people asking whether the world’s richest man has ever publicly acknowledged or referred to having such a vocal disorder.

There’s no evidence to suggest Elon Musk has a stutter

Elon Musk has never mentioned that he has a stutter, and there’s no reason to believe he has one. On many occasions, Musk has delivered presentations to large crowds of people without any evidence of a speech impediment coming through.

However, there has been speculation for many years about whether or not he has a stutter. In this Quora discussion, people with stutters are convinced he has one but believe he uses specialist techniques to suppress it when he talks in public.

There is, of course, a distinct possibility that Musk is primarily heard talking in pressurized situations with lots of people listening. Despite his colossal wealth and fame, he’s still human, and his nerves in such environments could be mistaken for him having a stutter.

In the case of his discussion with Donald Trump, there are people who believe it’s Musk’s sycophancy for the orange one that caused him to stumble over his words.

Regardless, unlike how Trump has spoken of Joe Biden so many times regarding his speech impediment, you shouldn’t mock Musk for possibly having one (if indeed he does). You may not like him — and there are many reasons why that dislike could be justified — but a speech impediment shouldn’t be a target for mockery. Don’t be like Trump.