Elon Musk voiced support Tuesday for Pizzagate, the long-debunked conspiracy theory that led a man to fire a rifle inside a Washington, D.C., restaurant in 2016.
The far-right theory, a predecessor to QAnon, alleged that the Clintons and Democratic Party leaders ran a secret satanic child sex ring in a D.C. pizzeria known as Comet Ping Pong.
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The theory, a mainstay of fringe Donald Trump supporters during the 2016 presidential campaign, was labeled “fictitious” by D.C. police investigators.
Musk’s post was the latest in what has become a string of tweets in which Musk boosted debunked theories and comes just one day after he visited Israel to try to tamp down anger over an explosion of antisemitism on X that has caused a growing number of advertisers to flee.
When Israeli President Isaac Herzog pressed Musk on Monday to put an end to X’s “reservoir of hatred,” Musk responded, “We need to do everything possible to stop the hate.”
A Washington Post spokesperson said Tuesday that the company had made the decision to pause its advertising on X.
Musk, who bought the social network formerly known as Twitter last year for $44 billion, posted a meme on Tuesday implying that the expert who debunked Pizzagate “went to jail for child porn.” Musk said that “does seem at least a little suspicious.”
The post was viewed more than 15 million times before being deleted at around 2 p.m., less than an hour after this story was published.
The meme itself is based on a fabricated headline that suggests Pizzagate was debunked by one person, the disgraced former ABC reporter James Gordon Meek, who pleaded guilty last year to possessing child sexual abuse images and was sentenced to six years in federal prison.
Meek covered national security and appeared to have mentioned Pizzagate only once, in a 2017 report about Russian disinformation, according to a Reuters fact-check article in August. And a different James Meek, a British journalist, briefly discussed Pizzagate in a London Review of Books article in 2020.
Pizzagate has been thoroughly debunked by news organizations since it arose from the 4chan message board in 2016. No victims or evidence have ever been revealed.
Comet Ping Pong owner praises employees after incident with gunman
0:53
Comet Ping Pong owner, James Alefantis, addresses reporters during the reopening of his restaurant days after a gunman entered with an assault rifle, firing it at least once. (Video: The Washington Post, Photo: Nikki Kahn/The Washington Post)
Logan Strain, a researcher of conspiracy theories who uses the name Travis View on the podcast “QAnon Anonymous,” said the false connection between Meek and Pizzagate gained popularity this summer among conspiracy theorists such as Ron Watkins, the longtime administrator of QAnon’s central message board 8kun, who posted about it on X.
Strain said it’s “incredibly dangerous” that Musk was boosting a fabrication that had already been cited in an act of violence. “It is very distressing that he’s validating a conspiracy theory that has radicalized people to destroy their lives and commit crimes,” he said.
Musk, X and a representative for X chief executive Linda Yaccarino did not respond to requests for comment.
The far-right theory, a predecessor to QAnon, alleged that the Clintons and Democratic Party leaders ran a secret satanic child sex ring in a D.C. pizzeria known as Comet Ping Pong.
Tech is not your friend. We are. Sign up for The Tech Friend newsletter.
The theory, a mainstay of fringe Donald Trump supporters during the 2016 presidential campaign, was labeled “fictitious” by D.C. police investigators.
Musk’s post was the latest in what has become a string of tweets in which Musk boosted debunked theories and comes just one day after he visited Israel to try to tamp down anger over an explosion of antisemitism on X that has caused a growing number of advertisers to flee.
When Israeli President Isaac Herzog pressed Musk on Monday to put an end to X’s “reservoir of hatred,” Musk responded, “We need to do everything possible to stop the hate.”
A Washington Post spokesperson said Tuesday that the company had made the decision to pause its advertising on X.
Musk, who bought the social network formerly known as Twitter last year for $44 billion, posted a meme on Tuesday implying that the expert who debunked Pizzagate “went to jail for child porn.” Musk said that “does seem at least a little suspicious.”
The post was viewed more than 15 million times before being deleted at around 2 p.m., less than an hour after this story was published.
The meme itself is based on a fabricated headline that suggests Pizzagate was debunked by one person, the disgraced former ABC reporter James Gordon Meek, who pleaded guilty last year to possessing child sexual abuse images and was sentenced to six years in federal prison.
Meek covered national security and appeared to have mentioned Pizzagate only once, in a 2017 report about Russian disinformation, according to a Reuters fact-check article in August. And a different James Meek, a British journalist, briefly discussed Pizzagate in a London Review of Books article in 2020.
Pizzagate has been thoroughly debunked by news organizations since it arose from the 4chan message board in 2016. No victims or evidence have ever been revealed.
Comet Ping Pong owner praises employees after incident with gunman
0:53
Comet Ping Pong owner, James Alefantis, addresses reporters during the reopening of his restaurant days after a gunman entered with an assault rifle, firing it at least once. (Video: The Washington Post, Photo: Nikki Kahn/The Washington Post)
Logan Strain, a researcher of conspiracy theories who uses the name Travis View on the podcast “QAnon Anonymous,” said the false connection between Meek and Pizzagate gained popularity this summer among conspiracy theorists such as Ron Watkins, the longtime administrator of QAnon’s central message board 8kun, who posted about it on X.
Strain said it’s “incredibly dangerous” that Musk was boosting a fabrication that had already been cited in an act of violence. “It is very distressing that he’s validating a conspiracy theory that has radicalized people to destroy their lives and commit crimes,” he said.
Musk, X and a representative for X chief executive Linda Yaccarino did not respond to requests for comment.
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