Key Takeaways
- In a video interview with The Economist, Elon Musk acknowledged that some people "loathe" him but dismissed it, pointing instead to his roughly quarter-billion followers as proof that many more people like him.
- Pressed on whether his social media use is good for Western democracy, Musk argued that journalists are far more hated than he is, citing low public approval of the media and telling the interviewer: "They hate you far more than they hate me."
- Musk has previously expressed that he is a fan of citizen journalism, although his critics believe it's a way for him to sideline traditional media coverage he dislikes.
Elon Musk has never been afraid to speak his mind, and he recently got testy with a reporter who questioned him about media criticism.
The trillionaire SpaceX and Tesla founder was asked in a recent video interview with The Economist if he was aware that "some people do loathe" him. The entrepreneur, who's shown troubled views on everything from politics to artificial intelligence, responded (around the 6:14 mark in the video below) by admitting that, yes, it's "probably true" that people do loathe him.
Musk, who was also confronted about whether his social media use is "helpful for Western democracy," added: "The fact that, as you pointed out, a quarter billion people follow me is that I think a lot more people actually like me than don’t. And I think a lot more people hate you and the media more than you realize."
The 55-year-old went on to ask Economist editor-in-chief Zanny Minton Beddoes if she knew that the "media is despised." "Do you realize that journalists, the view of journalists, is like, it's like a favorable view of journalists is like 15 percent. So the shoe is on the other foot. They hate you. They hate you far more than they hate me," Musk continued.
When Beddoes acknowledged a lack of trust for media professionals, Musk pushed back asserting that journalists are "loathed far more" than he is and are "hated."
On X, which Musk owns, he promotes citizen journalism, although many have challenged this perspective, viewing it as the entrepreneur attempting to silence stories he disagrees with.
