Elon Musk Says Reuters Is ‘Paid Propaganda’

Elon Musk has has reacted to claims that the Reuters International news agency was pushed to investigate him .

The billionaire who is a close ally of US president-elect Donald Trump expressed support for an online theory that links Reuters with investigations into his businesses by the Biden administration.

He called the purported connection “insane”claiming that it “explains a lot.” Reuters is “paid propaganda” that should be ashamed, he added.

RT reports: The connection was suggested by Mike Benz, who heads the self-described pro-free speech website Foundation For Freedom Online. On Tuesday, he alleged in a post on X that the outgoing Biden administration “paid Reuters over $300 million in government contracts” while simultaneously 11 US government agencies “targeted Elon’s businesses.”

Benz cited public records reported by the database usaspending.gov as evidence of his claim, as well as a series of reports by Reuters about the entrepreneur that won a Pulitzer Prize in May. The series on ‘The Musk Industrial Complex’ focused on “grave harms to consumers, workers and laboratory animals across Elon Musk’s manufacturing empire.”

The billionaire emerged as a close ally of Trump after endorsing his candidacy in mid-July. He is slated to become a senior member of the incoming US administration responsible for cutting government inefficiency.

Prior to picking a side in the US race, Musk was heavily criticized by left-leading public figures and media outlets for his management of X, formerly known as Twitter, which he purchased in 2022. The stated objective of his multibillion-dollar acquisition was to eradicate censorship on the platform, which he claimed was silencing pro-conservative voices.

Critics claim that Musk has turned X into a hotbed of right-wing extremism, while failing to live up to the promise of free speech. The EU has threatened the platform with legal penalties for allegedly failing to tackle “disinformation.”