Elon Musk Endorses Debunked ‘Pizzagate’ Conspiracy Theory—And Deletes Post
Topline
Elon Musk on Tuesday briefly posted—and then deleted—a meme to his social media platform X referencing the widely discredited far-right “Pizzagate” conspiracy theory, claiming the theory seems “a little suspicious,” just over a week after he came under fire for supporting a post deemed antisemitic.
Key Facts
Musk posted a meme on X Tuesday morning referencing Pizzagate, which falsely claims Bill and Hillary Clinton and other major Democrats operated a sex trafficking ring out of a pizza shop in Washington D.C., a widely debunked conspiracy theory that gained traction in far-right circles in the lead-up to the 2016 election, and resulted in a gunman storming a pizza shop in the city.
The meme, which references a scene out of “The Office,” claims the conspiracy theory is “real,” involved “trafficked children,” and that an expert debunking the theory “just went to jail for child porn.”
Musk posted the meme with the caption: “Does seem at least a little suspicious”—though he appeared to delete it several hours later.
Musk then commented with a link to a news article originally published by the Associated Press in July, on former ABC News investigative journalist James Gordon Meek’s guilty plea over child pornography charges.
Tangent
The Pizzagate theory, which has been embraced by followers of the QAnon conspiracy movement, was also referenced by Musk earlier this month, following a scathing report from left-wing media watchdog Media Matters, which found advertisements from several major companies on X appeared near pro-Nazi content. Musk denied those claims in a lawsuit against Media Matters, and also posted to his social media platform, X, about the case. In a post from another user comparing the founder of Media Matters to the owner of the so-called Pizzagate restaurant, with Musk replying “Weird,” making the comment visible to his nearly 165 million followers on the social media site. Those posts were Musk’s latest dabble into far-right conspiracies, after the billionaire cryptically posted “Q*Anon” last week, before responding to an account on X who referenced the conspiracy theory, copying a meme captioned: “NOT NOW DAMN IT Q.”
Contra
More than a dozen major advertisers suspended their ads on X in recent weeks over concerns of antisemitism proliferating on X. The report from Media Matters found advertisements from several major companies including Apple, IBM and Oracle, appeared on X near posts praising Adolf Hitler and pro-Nazi content. Musk, in his lawsuit against Media Matters, claims the watchdog “knowingly and maliciously manufactured side-by-side images” of advertisements and pro-Nazi content, while Media Matters president Angelo Carusone blasted the complaint as “frivolous”. Musk also faced heavy criticism after he endorsed a post on X from a user who claimed “Jewish communities have been pushing the exact kind of dialectical hatred against whites that they claim to want people to stop using against them.” The White House condemned Musk’s comments, calling them an “abhorrent promotion of antisemitic and racist hate.”
Key Background
According to the Pizzagate conspiracy theory, the Clinton family concealed a pedophilia ring out of the Comet Ping Pong pizzaria in Washington D.C., where the Clintons allegedly trafficked and kidnapped children. The theory—which has been roundly debunked—began in 2016, after WikiLeaks released emails from then presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign chairman John Podesta, which named the pizza shop’s owner, James Alefantis. The theory took off after users on the fringe message board 4Chan posted images from Alefantis’ social media accounts that included photos of children and a basement under construction, with those posts then spreading to other social media sites. As the theory evolved, Alefantis started receiving death threats and calls to burn down the pizza shop, Reuters reported. In December 2016, a 28-year-old man named Edgar Maddison Welch was arrested for allegedly entering the pizza shop with an AR-15 assault rifle, vowing to investigate the pedophile ring—Welch was sentenced to four years in prison in 2017 on charges of interstate transportation of a firearm and assault with a dangerous weapon.
Forbes Valuation
We estimate Musk’s net worth at $241.9 billion, making the SpaceX, Tesla and X owner far and away the world’s richest person, well above LVMH mogul Bernard Arnault’s $184.9 billion net worth.
Further Reading
Musk Visits Israel Amid X Antisemitism Backlash: Here’s What’s Behind It (Forbes)
X Will Donate Ad Revenue To Gaza Aid Groups And Israeli Hospitals, Elon Musk Says (Forbes)
