Manipulated image shows Musk post about protesting 'brats' | Fact check
The claim: Image shows Elon Musk post saying protesting 'brats' should be jailed
A Feb. 17 Threads post (direct link, archive link) includes what appears to be a screenshot of an X post from billionaire Elon Musk.
"Spoiled crybabies across the country are protesting against America's golden age," the supposed post from Musk reads. "Brats like them should go to prison."
The caption on the Threads post reads, "So people who PEACEFULLY protest should go to prison? This isn’t a golden age, it’s a 'Gilded Age.' Elon Musk is a deplorable person. 50501."
The post was reposted more than 100 times in a week. The same image was shared elsewhere on Instagram and Facebook.
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Our rating: Manipulated media
The image is a fabrication. There's no record of the post on Musk's X profile.
No evidence Musk made post decrying protesting 'crybabies'
Demonstrators upset with Musk, the unofficial head of the Department of Government Efficiency, and President Donald Trump's policies held rallies across the country on Feb. 17, with protesters in New York reportedly chanting, "No one elected Elon Musk," and rallygoers in Colorado shouting, "No king, no crown, we the people won't back down."
The Threads post mentions "50501," a reference to the 50501 movement that started on social media with the idea of staging 50 protests in 50 states in one day. But Musk did not make the X post calling for "spoiled" protesters to be jailed. The image is a fabrication.
The post in question doesn't appear on Musk's X profile. There have also been no credible news reports about the supposed post.
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The image of the purported post includes a supposed virality measure of "1.1M Views," which is the same number shown on the other versions of the image circulating on Facebook and Instagram. This is another sign that the image is fabricated because an authentic X post would likely have been screenshotted at different times by some of Musk's more than 218 million followers and shared with differing view counts.
Paste BN has debunked an array of social media claims involving Musk, including false assertions that he announced mandatory drug testing for all federal employees, that he announced he wouldn't sell Cybertrucks to anybody in the "pride community" and that he is not a U.S. citizen.
Paste BN reached out to the Threads user who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
PolitiFact also debunked the claim.
Our fact-check sources
- Elon Musk, accessed Feb. 24, X profile
- Paste BN, Feb. 5, What is 50501? What to know about movement sparking protests around the US
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