‘The biggest liars in the world!’: Elon Musk threatens ’60 Minutes’ for alleged election interference
Apparently all the money in the world can’t make your skin any thicker, because billionaire Elon Musk is whining again about unfavorable media coverage – this time from the CBS News program 60 Minutes. The show recently focused on Musk’s recently formed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and how it’s not great that the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is being targeted.
Musk and DOGE have claimed to cancel hundreds of millions in aid programs, including “$486M to the Consortium for Elections and Political Process Strengthening,” and $22M for “inclusive and participatory political process” in Moldova and $21M earmarked for India voter turnout aid. There’s also $40 million for “gender equality and women empowerment” and $47 million for “improving learning outcomes in Asia.”
The only documentation we have on this, by the way, is Musk’s word, so there’s no real way to know what’s actually going on. According to President Donald Trump and Musk, cutting these programs are essential to cutting government waste. 60 Minutes took umbrage with this, citing former USAID administrator Andrew Natsios, who denied the need for reform.
USAID, he said, is the “most accountable aid agency” in the world. He said DOGE and Trump are “creating a system” that violates one of the key tenets of American Democracy: the systems of checks and balances in the constitution called the separation of powers.
Musk’s response to this criticism? Calling the news program the “biggest liars in the world!” What a superlative. Then, in classic Trump modus operandi, Musk did the ol’ deflect and blame and called out the program for “deliberate deception to interfere” with the election. What does one thing have to do with the other? Who cares, 60 Minutes deserves a lengthy “prison sentence.”
The idea that holding power accountable through journalism gets you a prison sentence is troubling. Any regime that tries to control the media is not a democratic one. The media in countries like China and Russia are heavily censored and controlled.
The election interference claim came directly from Trump, who said 60 Minutes should be “immediately” cancelled after he claimed the show doctored a response from then Vice President Kamala Harris about Israel. The program released an unedited version of the interview to the Federal Communications Committee to refute this.
The program said it is “always guided by truth” and that it airs “what we believe will be most informative” while “working within the constraints of broadcast television.” It’s not surprising that Musk is also going after the program considering there’s a pending $10 billion lawsuit against CBS stemming from the incident. The network is reportedly considering a settlement.
The irony here is Musk seems to dislike censorship unless it’s information he doesn’t like. Recently, he tweeted that “one of the first things” Hitler did when he got power was to “apply aggressive censorship.” Calling for a major news program to go to prison for airing something he doesn’t like is doing just that.
The issue at hand is Trump’s supporters take everything Musk says as law. If Musk says 60 Minutes is out to get him, then it is. Some sampling of responses to Musk’s prison claims: One X user said that it’s well known that CBS News and parent company Paramount Plus are “left wing liars.” Another said, “So, USAID says USAID isn’t corrupt?” The blinders on these people to not see how the pendulum swings both ways is either plain stupidity or impressive mental jujitsu. Regardless, it doesn’t bode well for the future of journalism.
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