CNN’s Acosta: 'Elon Musk Is Spreading Fake News' — 'He Is Fake News'

CNN host Jim Acosta claimed Thursday on “Newsroom” that billionaire businessman Elon Musk was spreading fake news regarding the collapse of the continuing resolution spending bill.

Acosta said, “As Americans face the threat of a government shutdown, there are new concerns about Elon Musk’s growing influence over Donald Trump. The world’s richest man kicked off the drama with one tweet early yesterday morning, saying the bipartisan deal to keep the government running should not pass more than 13 hours later, the president elect joined him, warning any Republican who supported the deal would be primaried.”

Network media reporter Brian Stelter said, “So much of what Musk was posting on X yesterday about this spending bill was either misleading or outright false. He was referring to this bill being criminal. It’s literally a legal piece of paper that he’s calling criminal. There’s a lot of misinformation that Musk is spreading about this spending bill. I think that’s a big part of the story here.”

He added, “By the way, it’s not just me saying it. Representative Dan Crenshaw, a Republican lawmaker, tweeted to Musk last night and said, ‘I love you, Elon, but you need to take five seconds to check your sources before highlighting bottom feeders, looking for clicks.’ You know, Musk likes to post anonymous accounts that are spreading misinformation.”

Acosta said, “Yeah, I mean, for all the talk of calling people fake news and so on, we put this up on screen. He says that the bill contained a 40% pay increase for members of Congress. I don’t know if we can put that up there or not. There’s a cost of living increase in it, but nothing as high as what he said. So to Dan Crenshaw’s point Elon Musk is spreading fake news on this. He is fake news.”

Follow Pam Key on X @pamkeyNEN