Billionaire Elon Musk was criticized for his absurd threat to sue media outlets over headlines about a Tesla Cybertruck that was exploded outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas this week.
The explosion killed a person inside the vehicle and injured several bystanders, local officials said. Authorities are investigating the suspicious blast as a potential terrorist attack. There were gasoline canisters and large fireworks mortars in the back of the truck.
This incident occurred just hours after a driver in a rented pickup truck, reportedly flying an ISIS flag, drove into New Year's Eve crowds on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, killing 14 people and injuring more than 30 others before being fatally shot by police.
According to Clark County/Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Sheriff Kevin McMahill, both the pickup truck involved in the New Orleans attack and the Tesla in the Las Vegas explosion were rented from the same company, Turo.
In a post on X, Musk insisted that the explosion had nothing to do with the vehicle:
“We have now confirmed that the explosion was caused by very large fireworks and/or a bomb carried in the bed of the rented Cybertruck and is unrelated to the vehicle itself. All vehicle telemetry was positive at the time of the explosion.”
You can see his post below.
And later, after far-right filmmaker Robby Starbuck said that Musk "should consider suing outlets who framed the story" without clarifying that the truck itself had not spontaneously exploded, Musk had this to say:
“Maybe it is time to do so."
You can see his post below.
Musk—a self-proclaimed "free speech absolutist"—was swiftly called out.
It's no surprise why Musk would make the threat considering Tesla's recent stock performance; negative reporting poses a threat to his business.
Tesla shares surged to an all-time high last month, surpassing their previous record set in 2021. The stock closed at $424.77, surpassing its former peak of $409.97 on November 4, 2021, by around $15. Tesla’s market value has increased by approximately 71% this year, with nearly all of those gains occurring since President-elect Donald Trump’s November election victory.
Additionally, Musk's new role as co-head of Trump's fake Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) grants him influence over federal agencies' budgets and staffing, as well as the ability to advocate for the removal of troublesome regulations. During a Tesla earnings call in October, Musk stated that he planned to use his influence with Trump to establish a “federal approval process for autonomous vehicles.”
