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Twitter boss Elon Musk
Photo: DADO RUVIC / REUTERS
The new Twitter owner Elon Musk has spread a conspiracy theory about the attack on the husband of US top politician Nancy Pelosi in the online service.
"There's a tiny chance there's more to this story," the billionaire wrote along with the forwarded link.
Musk has 112 million followers on Twitter.
He has since deleted the tweet without comment, but other users continue to show it.
82-year-old Paul Pelosi was attacked and injured with a hammer at the couple's home in San Francisco on Friday night.
According to police, the attacker demanded to speak to the Speaker of the US House of Representatives.
But Nancy Pelosi was in Washington.
The 42-year-old attacker was arrested.
He faces charges of attempted murder.
The authorities initially gave no information on the alleged motive.
The conspiracy theory retweeted by Musk on the Santa Monica Observer website suggests without any evidence that Pelosi may have gotten into an argument with a man he let in himself - a male prostitute.
The police clearly speak of a burglary.
Answer to Hillary Clinton
Musk responded with his tweet to a post by former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, who tweeted a link to an article about the attacker's interest in right-wing conspiracy theories.
The Santa Monica Observer website is also known for writing in 2016 that Hillary Clinton had died and was replaced by a look-alike.
The new Twitter owner had given as one reason for the takeover that freedom of speech was too restricted there.
Most recently, however, Musk wrote in an open letter to advertisers that Twitter should not become a “place of horror” where everything could be said without consequences.
The service must be "warm and welcoming to all."
Musk has often pushed boundaries with provocative tweets.
In February, for example, he caused outrage with a post he shared about Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Alongside a photo of Adolf Hitler, the tweet read: "Stop comparing me to Justin Trudeau.
I had a household.” Musk then deleted the tweet.
kfr/dpa