Musk tweets conspiracy theory about Pelosi attack
The post, later deleted, comes days after the billionaire purchased Twitter.
Days after taking control of Twitter, Elon Musk on Sunday posted and later deleted an unfounded conspiracy theory about the attack on Paul Pelosi, the husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
On Saturday, Hillary Clinton tweeted a Los Angeles Times story profiling the suspect, who is accused of breaking into the Pelosis’ home and attacking Paul Pelosi with a hammer, and his far-right extremist views.
“The Republican Party and its mouthpieces now regularly spread hate and deranged conspiracy theories,” she wrote. “It is shocking, but not surprising, that violence is the result. As citizens, we must hold them accountable for their words and the actions that follow.”
In response, Musk tweeted Sunday morning to his 112 million followers that “there is a tiny possibility there might be more to this story than meets the eye” and posted a link to an unfounded story offering a conspiracy theory about the attack. The story was posted in the Santa Monica Observer, a publication known for spreading misinformation.
Musk’s tweet was deleted hours later, after receiving tens of thousands of retweets and likes. The tweet came hours before the San Francisco district attorney confirmed Sunday afternoon that the suspect, David DePape, was looking for the House speaker when he forced his way into the Pelosis’ home.
The Times, in a 2021 editorial, noted that the Observer “is notorious for publishing false news. In 2016, for example, it claimed that Hillary Clinton had died and that a body double had been sent to debate Donald Trump. Months later it reported, incorrectly, that Trump had appointed Kanye West to a high-level
24 hours of Musk taking over the site, the use of the N-word increased 500%, according to the Network Contagion Research Institute — though Musk claims its moderation policies have not yet changed. Hate has found its home, in the middle of our public square.
I am a firm free speech supporter. There are no simple solutions here, but this can’t be a back burner issue for government any longer.
The midterms are days away, and violence is already expected. Musk’s tweet shows that Twitter has become a willing participant in feeding the machine of propaganda and lies that is driving some to believe violence is justified.
As professor Brian Levin, director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at Cal State San Bernardino, told me Sunday when I interrupted him walking his dog on the beach: “Companies have the right to establish their terms of operation, but when some are so big and influential, it’s important that they act with a sense of civic responsibility. And if not, the law should regulate them to the extent it can be done without violating the 1st Amendment.”
Levin added: “The new standard bearer of the company is setting the tone that Twitter will be a place where misinformation and targeted rumors can circulate with the approval of the man behind the curtain.”
Musk, of course, didn’t come up with this conspiracy theory himself. I watched it take shape in real time in the minutes after the attack — it took only minutes. The right-wing machine that is intent on demonizing and dehumanizing anyone blocking its march to authoritarianism kicked into high gear as soon as the news broke that a 42-yearold man wielding a hammer had broken into the Pelosis’ San Francisco home shouting, “Where’s Nancy?”
The House speaker was in Washington, D.C., but her 82-year-old husband was home. Paul Pelosi was brave and quick thinking, surreptitiously calling 911. A smart dispatcher sent help, even though Pelosi was unable to freely speak about the situation with his attacker there. Police arrived two minutes later and witnessed Pelosi struggling with the intruder, whom police identified as David DePape, over the hammer. The intruder got the tool and started bashing Pelosi, who underwent skull surgery but is expected to recover.
That story elicited glee from some. After I wrote about it Saturday, a reader named Steve (he gave me his last name, but I’m not printing it) emailed me with the subject line, “I hope the man who did this is doing well.”
Steve continued, “I only wish that Pelosi was there on the other end of that hammer!”
Steve wasn’t the only person in favor of killing our politicians, and Musk wasn’t the only prominent person to dive headlong into the sewer of hate.
The memes and socalled witticisms were nearly unavoidable, many beginning with some variation of “It may be too soon, but ...” as if the attempted assassination of the most powerful female politician in America was one big joke.
Arizona Republican lawmaker Wendy Rogers tweeted a “Halloween costume” of a headband with a hammer poised to hit the wearer’s head.
Former California gubernatorial candidate Larry Elder, the “sage from South Central,” as he bills himself, wrote: “Too, soon? Poor, Paul Pelosi. First, he’s busted for DUI, and then gets attacked in his home. Hammered twice in six months.”
The story that Musk retweeted also came from close to home: the Santa Monica Observer, owned by onetime City Council candidate David Ganezer. The editorial board of this paper has called out that publication for “publishing false news,” including that Hillary Clinton had died and that a body double had taken her place in a debate with Donald Trump.
What makes comments like Musk’s so alarming is that denial is a key part of the far-right strategy, and one that adherents find fun and empowering. Nothing is ever their fault. Nothing is ever what it seems.
It couldn’t possibly be that DePape had been driven to extremes by a fire-hose diet of lies — all laid out on his personal blog, where he ranted against transgender people and Jewish people, and mucked around in conspiracies, including that an alien race of lizards has infiltrated society, albeit mostly Democrats.
It had to be something else, something the far-right finds abhorrent, even evil. Musk’s post was in response to Clinton, one of the farright’s most hated figures. Clinton had tweeted Saturday, attaching a Times article about DePape’s online ravings: “The Republican Party and its mouthpieces now regularly spread hate and deranged conspiracy theories. It is shocking, but not surprising, that violence is the result. As citizens, we must hold them accountable for their words and the actions that follow.”
When the rich, powerful and influential become peddlers of antidemocratic ammunition, they become dangerous to democracy. Musk, in a note to advertisers last week, wrote, “Twitter obviously cannot become a free-for-all hellscape, where anything can be said with no consequences.”
But then he made it just that.
If we don’t hold Musk and others like him accountable now, we may not have the chance.