Musk Repeats Baseless Claim ‘Massive Amount’ of Tax Dollars Is ‘Going to Legacy Media Companies’

Phillip NietoFeb 20th, 2025, 6:42 pm
 

Billionaire Elon Musk made a widely debunked claim that a “massive amount” of tax dollars are “going to legacy media companies” at CPAC on Thursday.

Musk was joined by Newsmax TV host Rob Schmitt on stage at CPAC where they talked about Musk’s decision to purchase X, formerly Twitter, for “more than it was probably worth.”

The DOGE leader also claimed that “massive amount of your tax dollars is going to legacy media companies.” This claim originates from President Donald Trump when he stated on Truth Social that billions of taxpayer dollars had “been stolen at USAID, and other agencies” and given “to the fake news media” for favorable coverage for Democrats.

In reality, according to a fact check by CBS News, “government agencies collectively spent more than $8 million combined in payments for Politico subscriptions and products in 2024. This includes $24,000 spent by the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID, on subscriptions.”

Government employees were offered paywalled content that included exclusive reporting from other outlets including The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. Regardless, Musk reiterated the debunked claim during the CPAC interview.

MUSK: A massive amount of your tax dollars is going to legacy media companies.

SCHMITT: Yes.

MUSK: And directly from the government.

SCHMITT: The government wants to take over media.

MUSK: Yeah. It’s horrible. Yeah.

SCHMITT: That’s why we have X. Yeah. And that’s — that’s why you spent $44 billion. I mean, that’s a lot of money. I mean, more than it was probably worth. But there was a message.

MUSK: Freedom is priceless.

SCHMITT: Priceless…probably one of the most important investments this country has ever seen.

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