Before the Electorate Head to the Polls, Elon Musk Endures a Final Fiasco with His Facial Region
Following his triumph in the courtroom yesterday, tech billionaire and political activist Elon Musk logged onto X and uploaded a QAnon video.
The 60-second clip sports a "fash-wave aesthetic," a trend favored by the online far-right, which merges fascist memes with a retro, pixelated touch. Clips of Donald Trump from the '80s and today, coupled with military motifs and tranquil suburban American visuals, make up this video.
At the 36-second mark, the term "Patriots" materializes on screen, startles, and eventually changes to "PATRIQTS." The remaining letters fade away, leaving only the Q. "We will oust the globalists... we will expel the communists," Trump states in the grainy clips as Van Halen's Jump plays in the background. This scene is a direct reference to the QAnon conspiracy theory. One of the popular beliefs within this theory suggests that Trump will one day utter a secret code word, activating Trump's loyal, nationwide sleeper agents who will subsequently detain and execute political adversaries.
Musk procured the video from the West Bestern account, a verified X user who has recently leveraged their platform to support Trump and disseminate similar content. The account's banner promotes both an anti-transgender and antisemitic conspiracy theory. In January, the account shared a racist meme about Amazon delivery drivers and referred to the company as "AmaZog," another antisemitic conspiracy theory allusion.
Such individuals are the type Musk supports on his platform on the day before the election.
Musk's X feed has been flooded with promotional content for Trump and rocket images for days. Ever since Musk joined forces with Trump during the Summer, he has invested substantial time and resources to boost his chosen candidate on his owned website. According to a study conducted by the Center for Countering Digital Hate, Musk's posts have garnered approximately 17 billion views since July. The report indicated that this amount equates to spending $24 million on advertising campaigns. Musk acquired Twitter for $44 billion.
The genuine impact of these views remains to be seen. A viewer does not always equate to an endorsement, and for many who are still active users of X, the sensation of being trapped on the site alongside Musk persists. Anyone who scrolls the "For You" tab will inevitably be exposed to some ridiculous rant from Musk.
Currently, Musk's feed primarily showcases clips from his recent Joe Rogan appearance. Yesterday, the popular podcast released a newly recorded episode featuring Musk and officially endorsed Trump for presidency. Rogan sharing the Musk video and providing his endorsement so close to November 3 is rather unusual. Over 78 million Americans have currently voted, and though early voting has decreased overall, it has increased significantly in crucial swing states like North Carolina and Georgia. Millions of people have made their decision and are now beyond reach of any last-minute stunt like this.
Among the chosen clips Musk shared were videos of him speaking about P’Nut the squirrel, anti-immigrant rants, and the argument that if Kamala Harris wins, this would be the final election America will ever conduct. Misinformation, mainstream media lies, and the power of X as a sanctuary for truth were recurring themes within these clips. This is intriguing given that Musk himself reposted a video from an anonymous, blue-checked user spreading false information about a Zionist Occupied Government.
As election night progressed, Musk was supposed to take part in a live town hall broadcast on X as a final Trump rally. The event did not run smoothly. Programmed to start at 8 p.m. EST, the event delayed for 20 minutes. The moderator attempted to solicit questions from the audience, but they couldn't be heard. "Well, I think if people vote, we are definitely going to win," Musk commented on the call.
Then, he called the entire thing off. "Let's cancel this, since we seem to be experiencing some technical issues." Eventually, he continued posting throughout the night.
In the future, Musk might continue using his tech platform to promote controversial content, possibly impacting public discourse significantly. The tech industry, including companies like X, has a significant role to play in shaping the dissemination of information and ideologies in the digital age.
