Elon Musk boosts fake Trump rally bomb threat and false claims about the election

New York (CNN) — Elon Musk is using his social media platform to promote misinformation about the presidential candidates in the lead up to the November election, amplifying false claims Wednesday about a Trump rally bomb threat and immigrants eating pets in Ohio.

While Musk’s posting of provocative, incendiary content on X is nothing new, the speed with which he has promoted false claims in recent days is striking given the breadth of Musk’s digital reach, with his posts regularly finding their way atop users’ feeds.

The most prominent of Musk’s conspiratorial posts came in the wake of an alleged second assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, after which Musk wrote in a now-deleted X post that “no one is even trying to assassinate Biden/Kamala.” After much backlash, Musk, who has pledged his support for Trump, ultimately deleted his post, stating that it was meant as a “joke.”

During the same weekend, however, Musk also joined a chorus of conspiracy-minded X users circulating a hoax “affidavit” from a purported “whistleblower” that claimed last week’s ABC News debate was rigged to help Kamala Harris. ABC has since confirmed the typo-ridden document was fake.

Then on Wednesday, Musk reshared a bogus claim that a bomb had been discovered near the site of a planned Trump rally in Long Island. Police said in a statement that “reports of explosives being found at the site are unfounded.”

While Musk’s pithy reaction to the fake threat is still live on X, the initial post has since been deleted. Musk’s own post has been earmarked with a crowd-sourced “community notes” fact-check that makes clear the claim was false. Still, in the post’s first two and a half hours, it garnered 4.3 million views and was reshared 9,800 times.

Also on Wednesday, Musk reshared a video falsely claiming the city manager of Springfield, Ohio, admitted in March that there had been reports of Haitian immigrants eating pets, captioning the post “Always Be Cheating News,” a clear knock on ABC’s moderators, who had fact-checked Trump’s false claims on the matter at the debate. The edited video instead showed a Springfield resident sharing that he had heard unconfirmed reports about domesticated animals being harmed. Both the city’s mayor and manager both state during the hearing they have seen no proof of such claims.

Musk’s post, which boosted false claims about Haitian immigrants that have been promoted by Trump and his running mate, JD Vance, leading to dozens of bomb threats at schools and municipal buildings in the Ohio city, garnered more than 7.9 million views and 36,000 reshares.

Hours later, Musk shared a map purporting to be from Nate Silver, the renowned statistician and FiveThirtyEight founder, projecting a 312-226 electoral college victory for Trump in November, saying the election was “trending well.” The map, however, was a fake.

The real map from Silver’s newsletter platform, “Silver Bulletin,” published Wednesday shows several states in play, including Nevada, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania, and Silver himself noted that “the race is really a tossup” in the post. Meanwhile, in simulations from FiveThirtyEight, which Silver parted ways with last year, Harris was forecast to win the election in 64 out of 100 simulations.

X did not respond to a CNN request for comment Wednesday on Musk’s posts.

Musk is far from the only figure spreading false information on the platform, though he is easily one of its biggest voices. Many of the bogus claims propelled by the billionaire in recent days were also buoyed by other major right-wing voices.

Since acquiring Twitter in 2022, Musk has gutted the company’s moderation teams and altered its policies, allowing misinformation and hate speech to spread on the platform. Musk also reinstated the accounts of previously banned conspiracy theorists, created financial incentives to post viral content, and ended the legitimacy of verified badges.

But the combination of Musk’s 198 million-strong following coupled with an algorithm boosting his posts has elevated false claims that would typically be confined to less visible corners of the internet. Though Musk has styled himself as a free-speech absolutist, his tendency to champion posts from fringe, right-wing voices while regularly attacking news organizations and journalists presents a major issue for voters seeking reliable information online during an already-turbulent election period.

The-CNN-Wire
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