POLICY WIRE FACT CHECK: Did Elon Musk say he has a ‘plan’ to prevent Democrats from winning midterms?
The Claim A viral claim circulating on social media platforms such as X (formerly Twitter) and Reddit suggested that Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and X, had made a public statement asserting that he...
The Claim
A viral claim circulating on social media platforms such as X (formerly Twitter) and Reddit suggested that Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and X, had made a public statement asserting that he had a ‘plan’ to prevent Democrats from winning the midterm elections. The claim was accompanied by a purported screenshot of an X post allegedly containing this statement.
The specific text attributed to Musk in the screenshot read: ‘No one needs to worry about Democrats winning the midterm elections. I have a plan.’ This message was shared by a user on the platform Threads, who also included a broader conspiracy theory suggesting that Musk had manipulated voter machines to ensure a Trump victory in the 2024 presidential election and was planning to do so again in the midterms.
The Details & Investigation
Snopes, a well-known fact-checking website, investigated the authenticity of the alleged X post. A thorough search of Musk’s official X account revealed no evidence that he had ever posted the statement in question. Furthermore, no verified screenshots of the post with timestamps or additional context were found, which would have been necessary to confirm its legitimacy. If the post had existed, it is likely that other users would have captured and shared different versions of it over time.
The original source of the claim appeared to be a Threads user under the handle @powermacuser12, who posted the fabricated screenshot in August 2025. The user claimed that Musk had ‘rigged the vote tabulation computers in the swing states to ensure Trump won the 2024 election,’ and that he was now ‘obviously planning on cheating again in the midterm elections.’ The user urged others to ‘haul [Musk] into jail by the FBI for his post below.’
Additional investigations by Snopes and other independent sources, including searches of Google, DuckDuckGo, and Yahoo, found no credible evidence that reputable news outlets had reported on this supposed statement. Moreover, an independent archive of Musk’s public statements, known as the Elon Musk Archive, did not contain any reference to the claim. These findings suggest that the post was not only unverified but also entirely fabricated.
the claim appears to be a form of disinformation rather than mere misinformation. While misinformation typically involves unintentional errors or misinterpretations, this case involves a deliberate attempt to spread a false narrative about a high-profile individual, leveraging social media to amplify the falsehood. The inclusion of a conspiracy theory about Musk manipulating voter systems further indicates a coordinated effort to deceive the public and undermine trust in democratic processes.
The Verdict
The claim that Elon Musk said he has a ‘plan’ to prevent Democrats from winning the midterms is FALSE. There is no credible evidence that Musk made such a statement, nor is there any verifiable documentation supporting the existence of the alleged X post. The claim originated from a fabricated screenshot shared on Threads, and no official records, news reports, or independent archives corroborate its authenticity.
This is a clear case of disinformation. The content was deliberately crafted and disseminated with the intent to mislead the public, using a combination of false claims and conspiracy theories. The lack of any supporting evidence, combined with the presence of a broader baseless narrative about Musk’s involvement in election manipulation, confirms that this was not an accidental error but a coordinated deception aimed at influencing public perception.
Counter-misinformation & disinformation investigation conducted by PolicyWire Editorial Desk (PW).
