Criticism of the Trump administration's restrictions on immigration from seven majority-Muslim nations popped up on Elon Musk's Twitter account Wednesday, but then almost immediately disappeared.
Here is a screenshot of the deleted tweets.
The tweets, and their deletion, sparked much interest among many of his Twitter followers.
Musk then said the tweets were accidentally published early drafts of comments he made previously, though he did not specify what earlier comments he was referring to.
Musk's participation in two of President Donald Trump's advisory committees has drawn criticism from others on social media and elsewhere. In particular, some critics have argued that Musk was not strong enough in his original denunciation of the executive order, when he said it was "not the best way to address the country's challenges."
In fairness, Musk said in early February that he planned to advise the president against the ban.
In addition, SpaceX and Tesla added themselves to a legal brief filed by more than 100 technology companies opposing the order.
The two companies had not been among the first group of more than 90 companies to join the brief, and they, again, received criticism for their delay.
But they were far from the only latecomers. About 28 other companies joined around the same time Tesla and SpaceX did, and that included big-name tech companies such as Evernote, HP, IAC/InterActiveCorp. and Adobe.
Musk also noted on Twitter that both of his firms joined as soon as they received the brief.
Musk has also said he thinks it is important for moderates to have the president's ear, and that he is advising Trump on issues of technology and business, as well as issues Musk is passionate about, such as climate change and carbon taxes.