The billionaire alleges the news agency minimized the Magdeburg car attack’s severity through its word choices.
Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, accused the Associated Press (AP) of spreading propaganda due to its coverage of Friday’s deadly incident at a Magdeburg, Germany Christmas market.
In an X post criticizing the agency’s reporting on the civilian attack, Musk labeled the AP “Associated Propaganda.”
Musk’s comment responded to an X user’s criticism of the AP’s headline, “A car has driven into a group of people at a Christmas market in Germany.”
The user claimed the AP’s passive voice downplayed the attack’s severity, stating, “You don’t hate the legacy media enough. The Associated Press uses a passive voice when reporting on the Christmas market terror attack in Magdeburg, Germany. As if the car simply drove itself peacefully, and the affected number of people small and insignificant.”
“It wasn’t a ‘group of people’—it was an entirely mass of people whose bodies were flung by the force of the impact, and many more who were crushed beneath the wheels as the vehicle zigzagged its way through the packed market,” the user added.
A speeding car plowed into a crowd at Magdeburg’s Christmas market Friday evening, killing at least four people, including a child, and injuring over 60, Bild reported, citing police.
Police detained the driver, a 50-year-old Saudi Arabian doctor living in Germany, at the scene. Authorities declared the act a deliberate attack, though the motive is still under investigation.
Musk’s criticism reflects his history of challenging mainstream media outlets over perceived biases.
In 2022, Musk voiced concerns about declining public trust in news organizations, calling it a “real problem.” This followed a Washington Post op-ed criticizing his X (then Twitter) involvement.
Earlier this year, Musk claimed the mainstream media’s “propaganda level” is “tediously high” and accused established outlets of biased narratives. The attack prompted increased security measures across Germany, with several towns preemptively canceling weekend Christmas markets.
Musk previously attacked German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, demanding his resignation after it emerged that the Christmas market attacker was an Arab immigrant with a German residence permit.
This incident echoes previous attacks on German Christmas markets, notably the 2016 Berlin attack where a truck intentionally rammed into a crowd, killing 12 and injuring 56. The attacker, Anis Amri, a Tunisian national who pledged allegiance to Islamic State, fled and was later killed in a shootout with Italian police.