Protector of free speech, or purveyor of false narratives? Elon Musk likes to cast himself as the former, but as his fervor for Donald Trump has grown, so has his propensity for spreading misinformation. And that’s no small thing when you own the world’s largest social media platform. Elon Musk, founder and CEO of SpaceX, participates in a press conference at the Kennedy Space Center on May 27, 2020 in Cape Canaveral, Florida. NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley were scheduled to be the first people since the end of the Space Shuttle program in 2011 to be launched into space from the United States, but the launch was postponed due to bad weather. (Photo by Saul Martinez/Getty Images) Last week, Musk shared a distorted version of Jeffrey Goldberg’s Oct. 22 article in The Atlantic headlined “Trump: ‘I Need the Kind of Generals That Hitler Had.’” In the original, Donald Trump’s former chief of staff, John Kelly, went public with his concerns about his former boss, saying he “falls in the general definition of a fascist.” “He certainly prefers the dictator approach to government.” Kelly also said Trump “commented more than once that, ‘You know, Hitler did some good things, too.” The version shared by Musk, which was a photo-edited post of the cover page of the article, carried a strikingly different headline that the world’s richest man seemed to take seriously, quote tweeting the post with the comment, “They are literally foaming at the mouth.” The fake article, which also carried Goldberg’s byline, was headlined, “Trump is Literally Hitler,” with the subhead, “Donald J. Trump is the reincarnation of Adolf Hitler.” The first paragraph of the satirized article snippet also had a completely different lead paragraph than Goldberg’s original story. Many of Musk’s MAGA followers shared it without irony, promoting it as an extreme example of so-called “Trump Derangement Syndrome.” They weren’t likely to read Goldberg’s original article or accept its findings if they did. And for some, the fake article mirrors their truth — that the mainstream media is out to get Trump — more than the actual facts. Since endorsing Trump earlier this year, Musk, who owns X and founded Tesla, has become the most high-profile surrogate of the GOP nominee. Besides donating more than $70 million to PACs supporting Trump’s campaign, Musk has used X to spread baseless conspiracy theories and misinformation. He’s also “joked” about the lack of assassination attempts on Democratic nominee Kamala Harris, posted AI-generated deepfakes demeaning her, and falsely accused the Joe Biden/Harris administration of redirecting FEMA funds away from storm victims and to illegal immigrants. Musk’s enthusiastic support for Trump has alienated a significant portion of the country, and those critics have seized on the fake article’s share. Musk’s post even got a correction from Musk’s media platform, marked with a community note reading, “This is not a real article. No such article with this headline exists on www.theatlantic.com. This is a satirical edit/photoshop.” “Your own Twitter says you’re a liar,” wrote one commenter. “How dumb and gullible are you?” chimed in another. Former MSNBC host Keith Olbermann was more to the point: “You’re such a moron.” According to The Mary Sue, Musk has a track record of sharing fake news. “In August, he shared a fabricated article that appeared to be from the Telegraph which claimed that British Prime Minister Keir Starmer planned to build detainment camps for prisoners on the Falkland Islands. In 2022, Musk did it again, posting a link to infamous fake news site the Santa Monica Observer (via The New York Times) to peddle a conspiracy theory about House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s home invasion. He never learns, does he?” On Sunday he shared a post by journalist Glenn Greenwald about the “permanent unelected machine” that runs the government. To which Musk commented, “Bingo!” ‘You’re Such a Moron!’: Elon Musk Destroyed on Social Media for Posting Fake Article That Compares Donald Trump to Adolf Hitler, Violating X’s Community Rules