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A fabricated CNN article circulating on Threads falsely claims that Elon Musk intends to demolish the Statue of Liberty to produce special edition Cybertrucks.
The doctored article features a headline suggesting Musk plans to dismantle the iconic monument for his Tesla venture, accompanied by an alleged quote from him at a Mar-a-Lago event disparaging the statue’s French origins.
"His name is Elon Musk, he saved free speech, he created so many different great things. He created the first major American car company in generations and his Rocket company, is the only reason we can send American Astronauts into Space."
-President Donald Trump at Butler, PA pic.twitter.com/ByHwfgOhqF
— SMX 🇺🇸 (@iam_smx) December 11, 2024
Investigation reveals this content was manipulated from an authentic CNN piece authored by Brian Stelter about Musk’s potential MSNBC acquisition. The original article shared the same timestamp but contained entirely different subject matter.
The hoax emerged amid recent news of an alleged assassination threat against Musk, following the tragic shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York. According to Newsweek, Bluesky removed a threatening post targeting Musk that included gun imagery.
TRUMP: We have to Protect Elon, We have to Protect our Genius.
"I was worried about Elon Musk, because he is one of our great geniuses, and we have to protect our geniuses, he is one our very smart people and we wanna cherish those people"
-Donald Trump pic.twitter.com/FiUJyBf3ar
— SMX 🇺🇸 (@iam_smx) December 9, 2024
A CNN representative explicitly confirmed the article’s fraudulent nature, stating, “This post is totally fake. Everything about it is fabricated.”
Multiple fact-checking organizations, including Reuters, Snopes, and PolitiFact, have thoroughly discredited this claim. No legitimate news sources have reported any connection between Musk, the Statue of Liberty, and Cybertruck production.
The fabricated narrative appears to manipulate Stelter’s byline and formatting while inventing content that exists nowhere in CNN’s archives or social media presence.
