‘Associated Propaganda’: Musk hits out at AP

The billionaire has accused the agency of downplaying the severity of the Magdeburg car attack through its choice of language in its reports

SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk has accused the Associated Press (AP) of disseminating propaganda following the global news agency’s coverage of Friday’s deadly incident at a Christmas market in the German city of Magdeburg.

Musk referred to the agency, commonly known as AP, as “Associated Propaganda” in a post on X that criticizes its reporting of the attack on civilians.

A speeding vehicle rammed into a crowd at Magdeburg’s festive market on Friday evening, resulting in at least four fatalities, including a child, and injuring over 60 people, Bild reported, citing police.

The driver, identified as a 50-year-old Saudi Arabian doctor residing in Germany, was detained by police at the scene. Authorities have classified the act as a deliberate attack, though the motive remains under investigation.

Musk’s comment was in response to criticism by an X user that AP’s reporting used passive language that potentially downplayed the severity of the attack. This critique aligns with Musk’s history of challenging mainstream media outlets over perceived biases.

In 2022 Musk expressed concerns about the lack of public trust in news organizations, describing it as a “real problem.” This comment was in response to a Washington Post op-ed that criticized his involvement with X (then Twitter).

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Musk calls Scholz ‘incompetent fool’ over Christmas market attack

Earlier this year Musk claimed that the “propaganda level” in mainstream media is “tediously high” and accused long-established outlets of bias in the narratives that they offer. The attack has prompted increased security measures across Germany, with several towns canceling weekend Christmas markets as a precaution.

Earlier Musk lashed out at German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, insisting he must resign immediately, after it emerged that the man who mowed through a crowded Christmas market in Germany was an Arab immigrant with a residence permit.

This incident mirrors previous attacks on Christmas markets in Germany, notably the 2016 Berlin attack in which a truck was deliberately driven into a crowded market, killing 12 people and injuring 56. The attacker in that instance, Anis Amri, a Tunisian national who had pledged allegiance to Islamic State, fled the scene and was later killed in a shootout with police in Italy.