Elon Musk Blames ‘Legacy Media Propaganda’ for People Hating Him: ‘Making You Believe Things That Aren’t True’

Elon Musk on Tuesday claimed that those who’ve expressed strong negative feelings about him were simply misled by “legacy media propaganda.”

Musk sat down with CNBC’s David Faber for an interview on Power Lunch at Tesla’s headquarters in Austin, Texas. During the wide-ranging interview, the two talked about the car maker’s future — including its ambitious “Robotaxi” plans — and Musk’s role within the U.S. government. Earlier in the day, Musk said in a separate interview that he’d be less involved in politics moving forward.

Asked about being even more polarizing since becoming an adviser to President Donald Trump, Musk argued that many of the negative things said about him were a result of the media conspiring against him:

MUSK: I believe that we want to live in a free society where people are allowed to say what they want to say — within reasonable bounds. Like, you know, you can’t advocate for the murder of somebody. But free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy. That’s why it’s the First Amendment.

FABER: Without a doubt, but I guess my question is more about your work at DOGE, for example. Was that worth it? You know, to the extent you are now, Elon — you were somewhat divisive figure two years ago — but now you really are. I mean, there are people who love you; but there are a lot of people who dislike you — some of whom were your customers. And I wonder, was it worth the undertaking at DOGE and everything else that you’ve done, and how outspoken you’ve been in terms of the things you believe in, to antagonize so many potential buyers and/or users of things like a Robotaxi?

MUSK: Well, I mean, unfortunately, what I’ve learned is that legacy media propaganda is very effective at making people believe things that aren’t true.

FABER: What would an example of that be?

MUSK: That I’m a Nazi, for example, and how many legacy media publications, talk shows, whatever, try to claim that I was a Nazi because of some random hand gesture at a rally, where all I said was that, “My heart goes out to you,” and I was talking about space travel. And yet, the legacy media promoted that as though that was a deliberate Nazi gesture when, in fact, every politician, any public speaker who’s spoken for any length of time, has made the exact same gesture; and yet there’s still people out there — and I’ve never harmed a single person–

FABER: You know what, Elon, I wasn’t even going to talk–

MUSK: Now, you asked for an example, and that’s–

FABER: I wasn’t even going to talk about it because, in fact–

MUSK: It’s horrible!

FABER: –I do know a number of people who are close to you, and I called them afterwards; and all of them, to a person, were like, “No way, no way.”

MUSK: Of course not.

Watch above via CNBC