From Mother Jones · Anna Merlan · · 1m 20s
Elon Musk's Midterm Disinformation Risk
Elon Musk spreads fake news about a Democratic senator ahead of midterms.
In brief
Elon Musk spreads fake news about a Democratic senator ahead of midterms. Elon Musk amplified false claims about Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico being in a mental hospital, then used his influence to fuel election disinformation. Originally reported by Mother Jones.
Fake claim about James Talarico
A fake claim spread on X said Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico was secretly flown to Ohio for mental hospital treatment.
“The claim was that Talarico had been absent from the campaign trail not because he had the flu, as he and his campaign have said, but because he was secretly flown to Ohio on a private plane and committed to a mental hospital there.”
Elon Musk spreads the story
Elon Musk, X’s owner, helped spread the fake claim about James Talarico being in a mental hospital on X.
“One of the most prominent people involved in spreading the story on X was none other than the site’s owner, Elon Musk.”
Musk’s response to the claim
Musk tweeted that the Talarico campaign was hiding something big that voters ought to know about.
“The Talarico campaign is hiding something big that voters ought to know about.”
Talarico denies the claim
James Talarico said he had the flu and had never been to Ohio, adding a laughing emoji.
“I’ve never even been to Ohio”
Musk’s midterms donations
Musk donated $276 million to Republican Senate candidates ahead of midterms, calling it a 'rescue mission' to keep Republicans in office.
“The New York Times reported that Musk has become the midterms’ biggest donor, pouring $276 million into what the paper termed a 'rescue mission' to keep Republicans in office and in control of Congress.”
Musk’s X changes
X removed trust and safety teams under Musk, increasing hate speech and inauthentic activity.
“Under his watch, X decimated its teams of internal moderators and engineers working on trust and safety.”
Musk’s disinformation threat
X accounts tied to Russian disinformation operations spread fake news about Democrats, including videos claiming candidates murdered sex workers.
“Recently, a network of X accounts tied to a Russian disinformation operation produced a blizzard of fake videos and news articles, each one offering a false and lurid piece of fake information about a Democrat.”
The takeaway
Elon Musk amplified false claims about Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico being in a mental hospital, then used his influence to fuel election disinformation.
