Billionaire Musk Clashes With Former CNN Host in Candid Sit-Down Over Trump, Hate Speech and More
Elon Musk, the mercurial billionaire at the helm of Twitter rebrand X, found himself in the hot seat during an explosive interview with former CNN anchor Don Lemon that aired Monday. What was supposed to be the premiere episode of Lemon’s new online show quickly devolved into a combative exchange fraught with tension.
The wide-ranging sit-down, conducted at Tesla’s Austin headquarters, covered everything from Musk’s recent breakfast meetup with Donald Trump to allegations of hate speech proliferating on X to the tech tycoon’s purported drug use. And before the cameras even started rolling, drama was already brewing between the two media titans.
Last week, Musk abruptly pulled the plug on a planned partnership between X and Lemon’s new show, which was intended to be financially backed by the platform. The sudden reversal left X’s ad sales team in the lurch, sources say, exemplifying the chaotic management style that has plagued the company since Musk’s $44 billion acquisition last October.
When the interview finally aired on YouTube and X on Monday morning, the friction between host and guest was palpable from the jump. Lemon wasted no time pressing Musk on his controversial meeting with the former president at a friend’s Florida residence earlier this month.
“He [Trump] was not asking me for money, he was just being himself,” Musk recounted of their breakfast chat, insisting the ex-commander-in-chief did not solicit campaign funds. The billionaire claimed he would not donate money to any 2024 candidate, though he appeared to leave the door open for a potential endorsement down the line.
“I’ve made no secret that I’m leaning towards the Republican side, but I’m undecided,” Musk stated plainly. He then vowed to provide a “detailed explanation” of his eventual decision if he does back a horse in the presidential race.
The combative sit-down also touched on Musk’s admitted struggles with prescription drug use and his prolific work schedule. “If you’ve used too much ketamine, you can’t really get work done, and I have a lot of work,” the tech magnate said, noting he logs 16-hour days as the norm and rarely takes weekends off.
But it was Lemon’s probing over hate speech policies on X that really set Musk’s temper flaring. When pressed on his apparent endorsement of an antisemitic conspiracy theory last year, the billionaire bristled: “I don’t have to answer these questions. The only reason I’m doing this interview is because you’re on the X platform and you asked for it.”
Musk then gave a muddled defense of X’s content moderation practices. “If something is illegal, we’re going to take it down,” he claimed. “If it’s not illegal, we’re putting our thumb on the scale and we’re being censors.”
In many ways, the fiery back-and-forth seemed to mirror the platform’s Identity crisis under Musk’s erratic leadership.
Since acquiring Twitter and rebranding as X, the tech mogul has vacillated between casting the site as an unfettered “free speech” free-for-all and making sweeping, unilateral decisions to remove content he deems unacceptable. Numerous conspiracy theorists, extremists and formerly-banned figures have flocked to X as a result.
At the same time, Musk’s constant cyberbullying of critics, rash business decisions, and vocal embrace of conservative politics have alienated legions of users. Twitter’s most recent earnings report showed precipitous revenue declines amid an ongoing advertiser exodus sparked by Musk’s antics.
The feuding between Musk and Lemon only added fuel to the fire. Following the interview, the host said in a statement that his “questions were respectful and covered many subjects. We had a good conversation. Clearly he felt differently.”
Musk offered a contradictory account on X, accusing Lemon of peddling a stale “CNN, but on social media” approach that viewers have outright rejected, as evidenced by the cable network’s flailing ratings.
The dramatic interview showcased how the boundary-pushing persona that earned Musk celebrity-billionaire status has increasingly crossed over into erratic territory as X’s de facto president. Thin-skinned outbursts, gladhanding with right-wing firebrands, and a pattern of making puzzling business moves have all fueled concerns over Musk’s leadership.
Many are wondering whether the world’s second-richest man can steer X onto a path of sustainable profitability, or if his impulse-driven antics will only hasten a mass exodus of mainstream users and advertisers.
As Musk’s explosive back-and-forth with Lemon demonstrated, riding that line between playing the free speech martyr and preventing X from devolving into an online cesspool is proving an increasingly tricky tightrope walk. Only time will tell if the mercurial billionaire’s ambitious vision for the platform can survive his own unfiltered id.
