Musk suggests he’s prepared to sue media over coverage of Cybertruck explosion
Tesla owner has previously expressed a deep disdain for mainstream media
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Your support makes all the difference.Elon Musk appeared Thursday to threaten the media with lawsuits if he doesn’t like the way they’re reporting the Cybertruck explosion outside the Trump International Hotel and Tower Las Vegas on New Year’s Day.
He issued the the warning in response to a post on X Thursday from conservative activist Robby Starbuck saying that Musk, the CEO of Tesla, which manufactures Cybertrucks, should “consider suing outlets” whose “headlines are sabotaging” the brand by making people think the Cybertruck “caught on fire.”
Musk ominously answered: “Maybe it is time to do so.”
The blast occurred early Wednesday when the Cybertruck, rigged with fireworks mortars, gasoline and camping gas canisters, exploded in front of the hotel’s main entrance, a short drive from the Las Vegas Strip.
The driver, active duty Green Beret Matthew Livelsberger, fatally shot himself before the explosion and died inside the vehicle, authorities reported. Seven bystanders were injured.
Musk, who has been tapped by President-elect Donald Trump to lead a new Department of Government Efficiency, holds a deep disdain for the mainstream media and has campaigned to defund public service news outlets. Additionally, he has suspended journalists from his social media platform X.
Following the explosion, which occurred the same day as a terrorist attack in New Orleans that killed 14 people, Musk sharply criticized media coverage of the incident and defended the luxury vehicle’s safety.
Both he and Las Vegas officials credited the Cybertruck for containing much of the impact of the explosion in Vegas.
“The fact that this was a Cybertruck really limited the damage that occurred inside the valet because it had most of the blast go up through the truck and out,” Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Sheriff Kevin McMahill.
Musk noted in a post on X: “The evil knuckleheads picked the wrong vehicle for a terrorist attack. Cybertruck actually contained the explosion and directed the blast upwards. Not even the glass doors of the lobby were broken.”
He later reported: “We have now confirmed that the explosion was caused by very large fireworks ... in the bed of the rented Cybertruck and is unrelated to the vehicle itself.”
Police have not conclusively determined the Cybertruck explosion was a terrorist incident.