Elon Musk deletes ‘Pizzagate’ meme after intense backlash from commenters

WASHINGTON (TND) — X owner Elon Musk deleted a meme upholding the “Pizzagate” conspiracy this week after commenters mocked him for the post.

Pizzagate is a conspiracy theory that claims global elites run an underground child sex trafficking ring that partially operates out of pizzerias, PolitiFact reports. It is a predecessor to the QAnon conspiracy theories.

Musk’s meme referred to the arrest of journalist James Gordon Meek on child pornography charges. The New York Post headline included in Musk’s post claiming Meek was responsible for debunking the conspiracy is falsified, Reuters reports.

Commenters mocked Musk for pushing the years-old conspiracy and repeatedly shared a photo of Musk with Ghislaine Maxwell, the former partner of convicted sex offender Jeffery Epstein, who remains a central figure in the belief of an elite-backed global sex trafficking ring. The post was also subject to a community note correction which noted the theory was debunked.

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Political commentator Keith Olbermann was so offended by the meme, he announced that he would abandon X altogether after changing his profile photo and banner to the words “f— Elon Musk.”

“After Musk’s endorsement of the QAnon Pizzagate conspiracy theory, I won’t be posting here any more,” Olbermann wrote. “Besides the fact that @elonmusk Is an antisemite and a moron who will eat the latest s— one of his sycophants hands him, Twitter is no longer an effective means of promotion.”

The commentator, however, appeared to still be active on the site as of Wednesday, claiming “I never said I was leaving Twitter.”

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Democratic representatives this month accused Musk of using X to spread “’hateful, violent, and terroristic propaganda.” He denied such accusations, saying “nothing could be further from the truth.”

Several major advertisers are now pulling advertisements from the site, claiming their content is appearing near antisemitic content.