Category Archives: elon musk

Elon Musk Corrected By X’s Community Notes Over His Latest Attempt To Smear UK MPs

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Tech billionaire and X CEO Elon Musk has been called out on his own platform for spreading misinformation about UK MPs and the grooming gangs scandal.

The world’s richest man has been repeatedly attacking the Labour government since they won the election. In recent weeks, he has started accusing ministers of inaction over gang rape and child abuse.

He also called for both Keir Starmer and his safeguarding minister Jess Phillips to go to jail – sparking an angry response from both.

Overnight, Musk turned to cross-party criticism and posted an edited image, showing a list of parliamentarians – MPs and peers from multiple parties – along with the caption: “Here is a list of MP’s [sic] who voted against deporting foreign rapists. They all need removing.”

Musk added: “Remember these names next election.”

Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey’s name was also circled in red.

But some of those listed are no longer MPs. And, as X users pointed out themselves, the letter is actually from February 2020 and has nothing to do with what Musk claimed.

The attached community note read: “This is a letter urging the government to not deport 50 victims of the Windrush Scandal back to Jamaica.

“It was not a vote, and it had nothing to do with foreign rapists.”

The note added a link to the letter, led by MP Nadia Whittome, on Labour’s website, proving Musk’s image is misleading.

Embarrassingly, Musk promoted the community notes feature as his flagship policy when he took over the platform formerly known as Twitter in 2022.

However, when he was fact-checked in December 2023 on the platform over the detention of a US YouTuber in Ukraine, he claimed he was “gamed by state actors”.

The red circling of Davey’s name in this latest image follows the Lib Dem’s post on X criticising Musk earlier this week.

Davey wrote: “People have had enough of Elon Musk interfering with our country’s democracy when he clearly knows nothing about Britain.

“It’s time to summon the US ambassador to ask why an incoming US official is suggesting the UK government should be overthrown.”

Musk, who has posted more than 100 times about grooming gangs in the last week, replied: “What exactly do I fail to understand about your failure to stop the mass rape of little girls in Britain, you sniveling [sic] cretin?”

Davey is not the only person to slap down Musk over his controversial comments.

The prime minister told journalists the tech mogul had “crossed a line” with his online attacks, while Phillips said she was worried about her safety as a result.

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Exclusive: Lib Dems Use Musk’s ‘Snivelling Cretin’ Jibe At Ed Davey To Raise Election Funds

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The Lib Dems are raising election funds on the back of Elon Musk calling Ed Davey a “snivelling cretin”, HuffPost UK has learned.

The X owner launched his attack after Davey said he “clearly knows nothing about Britain”.

Musk has repeatedly accused senior MPs – including Keir Starmer and safeguarding minister Jess Phillips – of failing to protect the victims of the grooming gangs scandal.

In an avalanche of posts on X, he has said Phillips should be in jail and called for America to intervene to overthrow the Labour government.

In response, Davey posted: “People have had enough of Elon Musk interfering with our country’s democracy when he clearly knows nothing about Britain.

“It’s time to summon the US ambassador to ask why an incoming US official is suggesting the UK government should be overthrown.”

Musk replied: “What exactly do I fail to understand about your failure to stop the mass rape of little girls in Britain, you snivelling cretin?”

Musk's exchange with Ed Davey.
Musk’s exchange with Ed Davey.

Davey has now emailed Lib Dem supporters urging them to use the row to help the party win seats at the upcoming local elections in May.

In the email, he says: “Last night Elon Musk called me a ‘sniveling cretin’, because I dared to call him out for his appalling suggestion that the United States should overthrow the UK government.

“People have had enough of Elon Musk interfering with our politics when he clearly knows nothing about our country.

“While Reform and the Conservatives desperately try to jump on the Musk bandwagon, the Liberal Democrats are standing up to him and his appalling attempts to subvert our democracy and divide our country.

“We need to counter the threat posed by Nigel Farage’s Reform party. Our next big test is May’s local elections in England – our liberal values vs Farage’s divisive politics.

“Elon Musk is the world’s richest man, and already there are rumours he could make a huge donation to Reform. We have to act now so we don’t fall behind.

“Every leaflet we deliver, and every conversation we have with a voter, will be critical to defeating the divisive politics of Farage and Musk this May.

“So I am asking you to contribute today to support our campaigning up and down the country.

“With your help and with our liberal values, I know together we can defeat this division.”

Supporters are given the option of donating £25, £50, £100 or “another amount” to the Lib Dems’ fighting fund.

Jess Phillips last night said her “world has been turned upside down” by Musk’s personal attacks on her, which Keir Starmer said had “crossed a line”.

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Elon Musk Has Said Jess Phillips Should Be In Prison In Latest Attack On Labour

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Elon Musk has said Jess Phillips should be in prison in his latest attack on the Labour government.

The billionaire X owner hit out after the safeguarding minister reportedly rejected calls for a public inquiry into historic child abuse in Oldham.

According to GB News, Phillips said it was up to the local council, not the government, to instigate such an inquiry.

In a letter to the local authority, the minister said: “I welcome the council’s resolution to do so … and to continue its important work with victims and survivors.”

The story was highlighted on X by former Tory prime minister Liz Truss, who said: “This is Jess Phillips, the same Home Office minister who excused masked Islamist thugs.

“Her title ‘Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls’ is a perversion of the English language. Its clear whose side she is on.”

Responding to her post, Musk said: “She deserves to be in prison.”

His comments are the latest salvo in his long-running war of words on the government.

During the riots in the summer, Musk was slapped down by No.10 after he said “civil war is inevitable” in the UK.

Downing Street also hit back at Musk earlier this week after he claimed “very few” businesses would want to invest in the UK.

The PM’s spokesman told journalists that the Labour government had an “unashamedly pro-growth and pro-business approach”.

He said: “If you look at what’s happened since the election, you’ve seen £63bn of traditional investment.”

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NYT Report Describes Elon Musk As Trump’s ‘Tenant,’ And Critics Have Thoughts

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Elon Musk has been staying in an expensive cottage at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, giving him “easy access” to the president-elect, The New York Times reported on Monday.

“Elon Musk plays many roles with President-elect Donald J. Trump. He is Mr. Trump’s most important donor, most influential social media promoter and a key adviser on policy and personnel,” the Times began its report.

“For most of the time since Election Day, he has also been Mr. Trump’s tenant,” it added.

The cottage, named Banyan, has reportedly rented for at least $2,000 a night in the past, though it’s not clear what Musk’s arrangement is, or whether Trump will charge him at all. It’s a few hundred feet from the main house at the Florida estate, a source told the Times.

Around the club, Musk has become known to make requests such as meals outside normal kitchen hours, the Times reported. He stayed there until Christmas and is apparently expected to return within days.

The billionaire Tesla and SpaceX CEO — who spent more than $250 million to help elect Trump — has been prominently involved with Trump’s transition, involving himself in conversations with foreign leaders, dropping in on meetings, weighing in on staffing decisions, and exerting his influence to the extent that he’s been called Trump’s “shadow president.”

Those accusations are reportedly getting on Trump’s nerves.

Musk’s apparent accommodation arrangement alarmed critics, many of whom cast it as yet another way for Musk to buy influence.

“So basically Trump is annoyed by this Musk-as-co-president thing but he’s putting up with it because he needs the rent money,” Philadelphia Inquirer opinion columnist Will Bunch wrote on Bluesky. “Perfectly normal way to launch your next presidency.”

See a snapshot of the reactions below.

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German Chancellor Takes Not-So-Subtle Jab At Elon Musk In New Year’s Address

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German Chancellor Olaf Scholz took a thinly veiled swipe at Elon Musk on Tuesday, using his New Year’s address to criticise the tech billionaire’s involvement in the country’s upcoming parliamentary elections.

In pre-recorded remarks from Berlin, Scholz took aim at Musk’s attempts to influence the outcome of the election without mentioning the X (formerly Twitter) owner by name.

“Where Germany goes from here will be decided by you — the citizens,” Scholz said of the February 23 elections, which were called after the chancellor lost a confidence vote earlier this month, collapsing his governing coalition. “It will not be decided by the owners of social media channels.”

“In our debates, one can be forgiven for sometimes thinking the more extreme an opinion is, the more attention it will garner,” Scholz continued. “But it won’t be the person who yells loudest who will decide where Germany goes from here. Rather, that will be up to the vast majority of reasonable and decent people.”

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In his New Year’s address, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz took a swipe at Elon Musk – without referring to him by name.
After Musk called for an AfD victory in Germany’s upcoming elections, Scholz said it’s up to German citizens to decide – not \"owners of social media channels.\" pic.twitter.com/it8XaABrmK

— DW Politics (@dw_politics) December 31, 2024

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In his New Year’s address, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz took a swipe at Elon Musk – without referring to him by name.
After Musk called for an AfD victory in Germany’s upcoming elections, Scholz said it’s up to German citizens to decide – not “owners of social media channels.” pic.twitter.com/it8XaABrmK

— DW Politics (@dw_politics) December 31, 2024

Musk, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO and a close adviser to President-elect Donald Trump, endorsed the far-right Alternative for Germany party in an opinion piece published in Welt am Sonntag, a major German newspaper, over the weekend.

“The Alternative for Germany (AfD) is the last spark of hope for this country,” Musk wrote in his column, which was published in German. “[AfD] can lead the country into a future where economic prosperity, cultural integrity and technological innovation are not just wishes, but reality.”

Musk, who claims he has an interest in German politics because of his “significant investments” in the country, drew widespread condemnation for wading into the election and even prompted Welt am Sonntag’s opinion editor, Eva Marie Kogel, to resign.

On Monday, the German government explicitly accused Musk of trying to sway the election.

“It is indeed the case that Elon Musk is trying to influence the federal election,” spokeswoman Christiane Hoffmann told reporters during a briefing.

She added that Musk is free to speak his mind.

“After all, freedom of opinion also covers the greatest nonsense,” she said.

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