Fact Check: Elon Musk Hinted on X That 'Hunter [Biden] Is Going Down'?
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Claim:
Elon Musk hinted on X of U.S. President Joe Biden's son, "Hunter is going down."
Rating:
On Sept. 9, 2023, the SpaceXMania.com website reported that X owner Elon Musk had posted, "Hunter is going down." The article included pictures of Musk and Hunter Biden, the son of U.S. President Joe Biden.
The story's headline read, "Breaking: Elon Musk Hints on Twitter, 'Hunter Is Going Down.'"
A Facebook post (archived) that promoted the article received more than 20,000 likes.
The article began as follows:
In a world where every tweet can become a headline, Elon Musk, the tech magnate and head of companies like Tesla and SpaceX, has once again sent the Twittersphere into a frenzy. Late last night, Musk took to the platform, dropping a cryptic message: “Hunter Is Going Down.”
Musk, known for his unpredictable Twitter antics, ranging from market-moving endorsements to meme-sharing sprees, has a history of making waves with just a few characters. This latest tweet, however, veers into a more politically charged territory, leading many to speculate its implications.
The immediate buzz centered around one question: Is Musk referencing Hunter Biden, the son of President Joe Biden, and the long-standing laptop controversy? For those not in the loop, Hunter Biden’s laptop became a focal point of political debate in 2020, with allegations, counter-allegations, and a media whirlwind trying to decipher the truth from the noise.
However, this story was not true. There's no record of Musk posting the words "Hunter is going down" in early September ("late last night") or ever before.
SpaceXMania.com describes its output as being satirical in nature, both on its "About Us" page and as a label above articles.
Further, at least some of the text of the article was detected as possibly having been written with the assistance of artificial-intelligence tools, according to a scan with the nifty AI-detection tool on GPTZero.me.
While the Musk quote was made up, it's true that he had previously made some remarks about Hunter Biden. Some of those comments can be read with a simple search on X.
For further reading, The Associated Press (AP) previously reported in an article that included mentions of Musk, "Ex-Twitter execs deny pressure to block Hunter Biden story." The story was published in this past February.
Also, for the latest news about Hunter Biden's legal battle involving federal firearms charges, we recommend the AP's Oct. 3 article, "Hunter Biden pleads not guilty to three federal gun charges filed after his plea deal collapsed."
Here is why we sometimes write about satire/humor.
Sources:
Amiri, Farnoush, and Barbara Ortutay. “Ex-Twitter Execs Deny Pressure to Block Hunter Biden Story.” The Associated Press, Feb. 8, 2023, https://apnews.com/article/technology-politics-united-states-government-us-republican-party-business-6e34ad121a1e52892b782b0b7c0e59c3.
GPTZero | The Trusted AI Detector for ChatGPT, GPT-4, & More. https://gptzero.me/.
Whitehurst, Lindsay, et al. “Hunter Biden Pleads Not Guilty to Three Federal Gun Charges Filed after His Plea Deal Collapsed.” The Associated Press, Oct. 3, 2023, https://apnews.com/article/hunter-biden-court-gun-charges-indictment-investigation-68b186294bb36071c02428834ec5f470.
