Fresh Off Destroying Don Lemon, Elon Obliterates 'Bloodbath' Lie About Trump
It’s been a busy week of owning the libs for Elon Musk on social media.
Fresh off essentially destroying Don Lemon’s future as an independent journalist by canceling a deal with the former CNN anchor and then saying he had essentially backed his way out of a job on the social media platform X by doing the same thing that had gotten him kicked off of cable, Musk waded his way into the Donald Trump/“bloodbath”/”animals” controversy that erupted over the weekend.
Most of you, if you’ve heard about the controversy, have seen the headlines and the reaction to it. The New York Times: “Trump Says Some Migrants Are ‘Not People’ and Predicts a ‘Blood Bath’ if He Loses.” Reuters: “Trump predicts the end of U.S. democracy if he loses 2024 election.” Politico: “Trump says country faces ‘bloodbath’ if Biden wins in November.” HuffPost: “Donald Trump Says He Thinks Some Migrants Are ‘Animals’ And ‘Not People.'”
This, on its face, sounds like a man threatening riots if people don’t vote the way he wants and calling a significant portion of illegal immigrants “animals.” The end of democracy and decency, as the liberals are always fond of telling us. That’s why the only democratic vote you can possibly cast is for Joe Biden. You have to abandon democracy in order to save it — and this was put forth as more proof.
However, the quote was taken wildly out of context — and Musk, using his platform, made sure X users knew exactly what the former president and likely GOP nominee this fall said during the Saturday rally in Ohio.
First, he made sure everyone understood the context of the “animals” remark, which was specifically referring to criminals.
“I got to know all of these people” during his presidency, Trump said, referring to foreign governments. “They’re very smart, very streetwise, and I would do the same thing.
“If I had prisons that were teeming with MS-13 [gang members] and all sorts of people that they’ve got to take care of for the next 50 years, right? — young people, they’re in jail for years — if you call them ‘people.’ I don’t know if you call them ‘people.’ In some cases, they’re not people, in my opinion.
“But I’m not allowed to say that because the radical left says that’s a terrible thing to say. They say, ‘You have to vote against him because did you hear what he said about humanity?’
“I’ve seen the humanity … and these are bad — these are animals, OK?”
In other words, it was the hardcore criminals, not your average illegal immigrant, who were being lumped in with the “animals” category. Funny how none of those headlines mentioned it, but there you go:
Speech with full context
pic.twitter.com/7ly7Cf3fEG— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 17, 2024
And then there was the “bloodbath” quote — which Musk referenced by quote-posting conservative tech pundit Ian Miles Cheong along with the pithy caption “Legacy media lies.”
“Please send links from this platform to your friends who are still being misled by the legacy media!” he said in a later post.
Legacy media lies https://t.co/3yQHajk5BE
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 17, 2024
Please send links from this platform to your friends who are still being misled by the legacy media!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 17, 2024
“Let me tell you something. To China, if you’re listening, President Xi [Jinping] … Those big, monster car manufacturing plants that you’re building in Mexico right now — and you think you’re gonna get that, you’re going to not hire Americans and you’re going to sell the cars to us,” Trump told the crowd. “No.
“We’re going to put a 100 percent tariff on every single car that comes across the line and you’re not going to be able to sell those cars — if I get elected.
“Now, if I don’t get elected, it’s going to be a bloodbath for the whole — that’s going to be the least of it. It’s going to be a bloodbath for the country.”
So, yes, the establishment media lied about that, too — and they understand the difference between a metaphorical bloodbath and a literal one, as evinced by their headlines.
Of course, Musk is going to be pilloried over this, the same way he was pilloried after he decided he wasn’t going to go forward with the Lemon deal. Musk’s and X’s business accounts provided a relatively concise reason behind the decision.
X is a platform that champions free speech, and we’re proud to provide an open environment for diverse voices and perspectives. The Don Lemon Show is welcome to publish its content on X, without censorship, as we believe in providing a platform for creators to scale their work…
— Business (@XBusiness) March 13, 2024
“His approach was basically just ‘CNN, but on social media’, which doesn’t work, as evidenced by the fact that CNN is dying,” Musk said. “And, instead of it being the real Don Lemon, it was really just Jeff Zucker talking through Don, so lacked authenticity.
“All this said, Lemon/Zucker are of course welcome to build their viewership on this platform along with everyone else.”
His approach was basically just “CNN, but on social media”, which doesn’t work, as evidenced by the fact that CNN is dying.
And, instead of it being the real Don Lemon, it was really just Jeff Zucker talking through Don, so lacked authenticity.
All this said, Lemon/Zucker are…
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 13, 2024
Another reason the deal fell apart? Lemon, according to the New York Post, asked for “a $5 million upfront payment on top of an $8 million salary, and an equity stake in the social media platform. Lemon also apparently insisted on a free Tesla Cybertruck, a private jet to Las Vegas complete with a suite for him and his fiancé — and that the company pay for their day drinking and massages.”
If you’re familiar with Lemon’s on-air drinking during his time at CNN, you’ll know there’s an off chance the Cybertruck might have been the cheaper ask.
It’s not only fun to watch Musk take the air out of establishment media types who want to endlessly spin untruths about their enemies — Trump especially.
It’s also instructive to watch his education as he’s turned into public enemy No. 2 (behind the former president, natch) in the establishment because he bought their favorite toy and stopped it from being an algorithmically rigged game in the left’s favor, all while reaching more people than they could ever hope to.
In their view, free speech is bad and disinformation. Their disinformation, meanwhile, is parroted as the official party line.
I can think of no better way to further alienate the world’s richest man than continuing the charade on his social media platform and then bashing him over the head when he dares to point out the truth — just like they did with Donald Trump.
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