‘Exposed… for his own lies’: Elon Musk dragged by California governor for unapologetically spreading misinformation
California Governor Gavin Newsom dragged Elon Musk and posted a video in which firefighters exposed the tech mogul’s spread of misinformation about the California wildfires.
Devastating wildfires, exacerbated by high winds and drought, have been blazing in the Greater Los Angeles area for days. The fires have swept through 40,000 acres, destroyed thousands of homes, and claimed 24 lives. Firefighters are still struggling to contain the fires, while Santa Ana winds are predicted to continue fostering fire weather. Many Americans have poured in donations to aid those impacted by the fires. Even those outside the country have pitched in to aid California, with Canadian and Mexican firefighters crossing the border to help. Unfortunately, there are also Americans seeking to worsen the situation. Since the onset of the blaze, Donald Trump, Musk, and their supporters have partaken in a shameless spread of misinformation, conspiracies, and political attacks. They are politicizing the fires because California is a notable blue state, and Newsom is a Democrat.
As a result, MAGA has been desperate to prove that the fire is somehow Newsom’s fault or the fault of California’s “woke” policies. One theory they’ve continued to pursue is that Newsom’s water policy caused a water shortage in California during the fires. Trump went as far as to claim that none of the fire hydrants in California had water. While there have been some struggles with water, the issue was due to power outages and the supply being, understandably, stretched and unprepared for a fire of this magnitude. Unwilling to let the conspiracy go, Musk tried to get LA firefighters to back up the MAGA claims. However, the attempt backfired when they exposed his lies instead.
Elon Musk exposed by firefighters for his lies
Throughout this ordeal, Newsom has largely refrained from engaging with MAGA’s insidious lies. After all, he is quite busy attempting to see his state through a terrible natural disaster. However, he did manage one clapback at Musk. Despite inhibiting relief efforts with his incessant misinformation on X, Musk went to California to distribute Cybertruck and Starlink terminals to wildfire victims. It appears his mission was twofold: in addition to distributing the technology, he also met with firefighters to quiz them on the water situation.
Seemingly trying to prove something, Musk recorded his interaction with firefighters via a livestream. In the video, he asks, “Was water available? I understand that wasn’t an issue in Malibu, is that correct?” A firefighter responds that they do have water and “water reservoirs.” He goes on to explain that the issue was “there is really no water system” equipped for the extent of water the unprecedented fires required. As a result, they brought in “2,500 – 3,000 gallon trucks” to compensate. Seemingly unsatisfied with the answer, Musk asks, “Correct me if I’m wrong, but in Malibu there was no shortage of water, in the Palisades there was a shortage of water at a certain point, or is that not accurate?”
The firefighter reiterates his original response, describing it as the system being unable to handle the “amount of water” the firefighters were utilizing rather than a shortage of water. It’s quite clear the answers weren’t the ones he was looking for, as Musk says, disappointed, “Alright. Sounds good … Thanks, guys …” The camera then flips to his frowning face before the stream cuts. It didn’t take long for Newsom to share the clip with the caption, “@ElonMusk exposed by firefighters for his own lies.”
The firefighter’s words shouldn’t have surprised Musk. As mentioned above, it was already confirmed that the system was not designed to handle large-scale wildfires. Additionally, as early as January 8, capable firefighters and California officials resolved the issue by mobilizing water trucks. However, these facts don’t align with the MAGA narrative that California has no water because of Newsom. So, Musk, who didn’t really have a reason to be “briefed” on the situation, thought he would go and trick firefighters into confirming his conspiracies. He has apparently gotten so used to X users parroting his misinformation that he thought it would work in real life. Fortunately, the firefighters stuck to the truth. Newsom was able to dispel some of the manufactured hysteria about the water supply and enjoy a nice “gotcha” moment with a man who has done nothing but levy hatred and attacks on him during a crisis.
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