Elon Musk, American MSNBS station and crying journalist. Something in common?

MSNBC is a cable news channel produced by the Microsoft Network and the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) network. In over 80 percent belongs to NBCUniversal – a subsidiary of Comcast Corporation (the remaining shares are held by Microsoft). MSNBC is perceived in the US as pro-Democrat. November 20, 2024 Comcast announced creation of a new company – SpinCo – and transfer of its paid linear channels to it. These include: MSNBC. As reported by Wirtualne Media, this decision is to be a consequence of the growing interest in streaming services; The creation of a separate company is intended to facilitate the company's “potential mergers with other players”.

On November 22, the eldest son of President-elect Donald Trump – Donald Trump Jr. – on your account on X shared post whose author wrote: “Comcast is putting MSNBC up for sale, CNN just announced upcoming mass layoffs. Perhaps the new owners will realize that constantly lying to audiences is a poor business model.” Trump's son commented: “Hey @elonmusk I have the funniest idea ever!!” – jokingly suggesting that the entrepreneur should buy the station.

Two days later, on November 24, Elon Musk on his account published meme about purchasing MSNBC, writing, “And lead us not into temptation.” The picture shows a priest fighting “temptation”, i.e. a provocatively leaning woman. The words “Elon Musk trying not to buy” were superimposed on the figure of the priest, and the MSNBC logo was superimposed on the woman's private parts. Musk's post has been viewed over 61 million times.

Shortly after these entries, a recording of MSNBC presenter Rachel Madow began circulating on social media – also in Poland. “Elon Musk wants to buy MSNBC. The current team cries on-air” – he wrote On November 24, 2024, a Polish Internet user, attaching this video. We watch Rachel Meadow sitting in the MSNBC studio trying to convey some information, but she becomes emotional and starts crying. After a while, the presenter asks to “show the graphics” and a meme shared by Musk appears on the screen. “I guess I'll have to pass this on to someone,” the journalist says, her voice breaking. The inscription at the bottom of the screen constantly reads: “Elon Musk posts a dangerous meme.” This Internet user's post has over 302,000 views. views.

The video amused many commenters. “But the leftists are equally idiotic everywhere”; “This pain in the ass is beautiful, like spring,” they wrote (original spelling of posts, censored by the editors). However, some Internet users believed that the recording was edited. “You know it's fake? I'm sure you know”; “this is a remake, the original is about the reaction to Trump's migration policy”; “Edited… old clip” – they informed.

Entry with the same recording on another Polish-language profile, also from November 24, 2024, generated over 154,000. views. There, too, it sparked divergent comments. “MSNBC lesbian had to hold back her emotions over Musk meme”; “I really like this idea”; “How pathetic they are, crying on TV is such a typical act of stupid feminist b****s” (censored by the editors); “I hope they don't stop in their plans,” some wrote. Others countered: “Don't lie. This is not a reaction to Musk's meme''; “Clip from 2018 – Musk has nothing to do with it.”

Those who do not believe in the truthfulness of the distributed film are right. The recording is a remake of a video from June 2018. It was then that Rachel Maddow became emotional on TV, providing information about the actions related to migration restrictions of the administration of then-President Donald Trump. The idea was to separate migrant children from their parents at the US-Mexico border and place them in youth shelters. The original recording, which of course has no connection with Elon Musk's entries, can be viewed, among others, at: on YouTube. This video from over six years ago was pasted with Musk's joke post from a few days ago and a fake bar on the screen, and this is how the fake story was created.

English-language entries with a manipulated fragment of this program now reach hundreds of thousands of views online. Fasting Fr content: “Watching Rachel Maddow freak out over Elon Musk posting memes about buying MSNBC made my day” (editor's translation) has been viewed over 800,000 times. However, a community note correcting the false message has already been attached to this post, along with a link to the real recording.