Elon Musk fired back at The Economist editor-in-chief Zanny Minton Beddoes during a Thursday interview from Tesla's Gigafactory in Texas after she said people loathed him over his efforts to influence European politics."I think a lot more people hate you and the media more than you realize," Musk told the journalist.Beddoes confronted the Tesla and SpaceX CEO after challenging his support for right-wing European political parties and arguing that his wealth, ownership of X and following on the platform gave him unusual power to shape politics abroad.LIZ PEEK: ELON MUSK’S WELL-DESERVED WIN CAUSES THE ZERO-SUM LEFT TO FREAK OUTElon Musk fired back at The Economist editor-in-chief Zanny Minton Beddoes after she said some people "loathe" him.(Allison Robbert/Pool via Reuters/File Photo)"Why should you be able to shape European politics? You don’t even live there," Beddoes said."But do you see why this makes people think that this man who has all this power, he’s the world’s richest man, he thinks he has a right to influence our politics?" Beddoes said.
"It’s why people loathe you.I mean, some people do loathe you."Musk dismissed the criticism by pointing to his roughly 250 million followers on X as evidence that he had more supporters than detractors.FOX NEWS DOMINATES ON YOUTUBE IN MAY, MORE THAN TRIPLES EVERY BROADCAST NETWORKBeddoes challenged Musk over his efforts to influence European politics during an interview at Tesla’s Texas Gigafactory.
(AP/Pool)"Maybe some people do loathe me, and that’s probably true.I don’t care," Musk said.
"But the fact that, as you pointed out, a quarter billion people follow me is that I think a lot more people actually like me than don’t."The Tesla and SpaceX CEO argued that distrust of the press was greater than opposition to him and asked Beddoes whether she recognized the media's standing with the public."Do you realize the media is despised?" Musk said."Do you realize that journalists, the view of journalists...