The New York Times published a hit piece Thursday on Elon Musk’s childhood that enraged the billionaire investor’s supporters, particularly his biggest fan, his mother.
The Times also shared the hit piece to Twitter, writing, “Elon Musk grew up in elite white communities in South Africa, detached from apartheid’s atrocities and surrounded by anti-Black propaganda. He sees his takeover of Twitter as a free speech win but in his youth did not suffer the effects of misinformation.”
Responding via Twitter, Musk’s mother, Maye Musk, slammed the far-left outlet for its portrayal of her son as a privileged white man who’s likely racist.
“In South Africa, if you publicly opposed apartheid, you went to jail. In Russia, if you publicly oppose the war, you go to jail. @nytimes are you going to blame children for decisions made by governments? #StopTheWar 🇺🇦,” she tweeted.
Look:
In South Africa, if you publicly opposed apartheid, you went to jail. In Russia, if you publicly oppose the war, you go to jail. @nytimes are you going to blame children for decisions made by governments? #StopTheWar 🇺🇦 https://t.co/4wJt1ui0st
— Maye Musk (@mayemusk) May 5, 2022
Elon Musk grew up in elite white communities in South Africa, detached from apartheid’s atrocities and surrounded by anti-Black propaganda.
He sees his takeover of Twitter as a free speech win but in his youth did not suffer the effects of misinformation. https://t.co/bciCJDWGGP
— The New York Times (@nytimes) May 5, 2022
Maye’s tweet boasted 2000 comments, 7000 retweets and nearly 50,000 likes as of Friday morning. The Times’ tweet meanwhile boasted nearly 14,000 scorching comments, in addition to a paltry 6,000 retweets and 8,000 likes.
The original title of the Times’ piece read as follows: “In Musk’s Past, a South Africa Rife With Misinformation and White Privilege.”
The original subtitle similarly read as follows: “Elon Musk grew up in elite, nearly all white enclaves littered with anti-Black government propaganda and sheltered from the atrocities of apartheid.”
Thanks to the backlash, both have since been edited to slightly reduce the otherwise clear narrative that Musk is a racist.
“Elon Musk Left a South Africa That Was Rife With Misinformation and White Privilege. The apartheid era created all-white enclaves littered with anti-Black government propaganda and sheltered from the atrocities of apartheid,” the edited version reads.
Some editing going on this afternoon https://t.co/3kQSgPW0Y5 pic.twitter.com/SGFQLNJIO9
— Tom Gara (@tomgara) May 5, 2022
But even with the edits, criticism continued to pour in:
The NYT has become a slander machine used by radicals to punish anyone who defies their illiberal political agenda. But their motivations have become so transparent that they’ve lost the power to destroy anything other than their own brand. pic.twitter.com/kmB0DPEJ3y
— David Sacks (@DavidSacks) May 5, 2022
And that’s his fault ? That’s like saying a child growing up in a war zone is more likely to be a terrorist. Bloody hell what a stupid point of view. Just shows you could not find anything against him despite your research resources.
— Handan Ozbek (@HANDAN1111111) May 6, 2022
I love mocking the New York Times for its dogshit journalism. They produce the finest Cleveland steamers that money can buy.
— Lipo Davis (@LipoDavis) May 6, 2022
Jesus @nyt, didn’t you read your own article before tweeting this???? Such a bunch of losers you guys are.
— No1Nol (@No1Nol) May 6, 2022
God you people are insufferable 😡
— MAGA_Cy (@maga_cy) May 6, 2022
The Times is one of dozens of establishment media outlets that have been pouncing on Musk ever since he began speaking publicly about purchasing the social media platform Twitter. The attacks grew tenfold once the actual purchase was announced.
At issue is the billionaire investor’s interest in rolling back Twitter’s widely criticized censorship policies and allowing free speech to once again bloom — a move staunchly opposed by the Democrat Party and its media allies.
The irony is that despite the narrative the Times attempted to portray, a number of the actual facts subtly highlighted in the piece completely belie it.
Yet as noted below by journalist Saager Enjeti, the Times still strove to portray Musk as a racist, suggesting therefore that to the left-wing paper, the narrative — a false narrative, to be clear — matters more than the actual facts.
In this article NYT itself reports @elonmusk:
1. Had non-white friends growing up in apartheid SA
2. His own father was an ANTI-APARTHEID politician
3. He literally left so he didn’t have to serve in apartheid militaryThey still insinuate he is a racist https://t.co/Oc6IANX4wv
— Saagar Enjeti (@esaagar) May 5, 2022
This is no surprise to Glenn Greenwald, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who’s become persona non grata to the establishment press because of his commitment to the truth and his willingness to call out the corporate press’s lies.
“This is the kind of punishment the corporate media doles out to anyone whom they perceive as their enemy and, especially, who opposes the censorship regime on which they rely. Reporting on Musk is obviously valid: necessary. This isn’t reporting. It’s deceit and punishment,” Greenwald noted following the publication of the Times’ hit piece.
He also linked the Times’ piece to the Democrat Party, which critics say is the true mastermind behind the media’s pro-censorship campaign.
This is the kind of punishment the corporate media doles out to anyone whom they perceive as their enemy and, especially, who opposes the censorship regime on which they rely.
Reporting on Musk is obviously valid: necessary. This isn’t reporting. It’s deceit and punishment: https://t.co/v7gUk3Cmeh
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) May 5, 2022
This, by the way, is how the online censorship regime was imposed:
Dems use their majority power in DC to threaten tech CEOs with reprisals if they don’t censor, while their corporate media allies smear anyone who refuses to censor by claiming they have blood on their hands, etc
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) May 5, 2022
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