It’s been nearly a month since Elon Musk and Donald Trump took office, and the United States of America has already changed immensely.
Our government is getting a major overhaul, but few people are satisfied with the decisions being made at the top. The current direction of the U.S. government is distinctly self-serving, and it’s not the American populace that’s being served.
That honor instead goes to Musk, whose several hundred billion dollars in net worth is only set to grow through his mingling with government. His pseudo-official role at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), has been targeting his competitors, the agencies investigating his various businesses, and anyone who’s ever dared to criticize him. That now includes CBS and 60 Minutes, both of which just became fresh targets on the Musk agenda.
Trump has already made attacking the media a staple of his second term, and it seems his unofficial boss just jumped on board. Following weeks of attacks from Trump, who claims 6o Minutes misled voters through its 2024 interview with Kamala Harris, Musk jumped on board — but not until the program dared speak ill of the unelected 53-year-old.
When it was just Trump ranting about editing and interviews and election interference, Musk left him to his own devices. But then 60 Minutes did a segment on USAID, and whether or not Musk and Trump’s attack on the agency was legal. According to experts, it’s very much not, and that’s not the kind of news Musk wants to hear.
So he’s officially on-board Trump’s tyrannical train, as he blasts 60 Minutes as “the biggest liars in the world,” and proclaims that a broad and unspecified “they” at CBS “deserve a long prison sentence.”
60 Minutes are the biggest liars in the world! They engaged in deliberate deception to interfere with the last election.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 17, 2025
They deserve a long prison sentence. https://t.co/de20vXO62X
This whole “election interference” claim is rich, coming from two people who absolutely work every angle imaginable to manipulate the American public. Whether or not they’re breaking the law in the process, only time will tell, but there’s exactly zero doubt both Musk and Trump engaged in interviews — even edited ones! — across the election cycle and beyond.
So to think you can not only attack, but also sue — for $10 billion, no less — a news agency for clipping a lengthy interview actually verges on insanity. News flash for those of you not in the industry, every interview is edited. Typical interviews are overstuffed with unnecessary chatter, and any discussion with a politician tends to be bogged down by carefully-crafted dodges and artful distractions.
Which is why we edit them. No one wants to watch Trump ramble for three to five business days, so news programs — including his beloved Fox News — cherry pick the most interesting, most newsworthy, and most relevant clips from sometimes hours of footage and package them into something interesting and watchable for viewers to enjoy. That’s how the business works, but in Musk and Trump’s new narrative, doing exactly that apparently equates to “election interference.”
Keep in mind that Musk, only hours earlier, tweeted out perhaps the most ironic sentiment since the Titanic was billed as “unsinkable.” He took to his own social media site to proclaim that “One of the first things Hitler did upon gaining power was apply aggressive censorship,” something he’s now happily engaging in himself.
One of the first things Hitler did upon gaining power was apply aggressive censorship
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 16, 2025
There’s almost no chance Trump’s CBS lawsuit will actually yield a win, but this is the same man who’s busy claiming “unrestricted power” from his position as a burgeoning tyrant. 47 is already happily attacking the judicial branch — aka the only real check on his power left — and if he’s successful in his aims, the First Amendment truly may be the first to die.
Published: Feb 18, 2025 12:19 pm