September 3, 2024, Presidential Campaign News

Elon Musk’s disdain for the Democratic Party has never been subtle, but in recent weeks his comments on the upcoming U.S. presidential election and his attacks on Vice President Kamala Harris have intensified, aided by his heavy-handed use of burgeoning artificial intelligence technologies.

On Monday, Musk posted an image on his social media platform generated using artificial intelligence showing Harris as a communist in a red uniform and a cap decorated with a hammer and sickle.

Musk, who endorsed former President Donald Trump for president and has donated millions to a super PAC supporting the Republican, captioned the image with the false claim: “Kamala swearing to be a communist dictator on day one. Can you believe she’s wearing that outfit?!”

The image, which appeared to violate X’s manipulated content policies, resembled an AI-generated image Trump posted last month during the Democratic National Convention showing Harris addressing a crowd under communist symbols.

Musk’s post came a day after he shared another post with a screenshot suggesting that only “high-status men” should be allowed to participate in government because women (and men with “low testosterone”) are incapable of critical thinking. Musk posted the post to his 196 million followers with the comment “interesting observation.”

The sexist tirade appears to have originated from 4Chan, the notorious hate website linked to mass shootings.

By choosing to spread disinformation and misogynistic views, Musk, a South African billionaire who owns both X and the most followed account on the platform, is introducing the masses to radical content that would otherwise languish in the darkest corners of the internet.

As of Tuesday afternoon, less than 24 hours after Musk shared the fake image and false statement portraying Harris as a communist, the post had been viewed nearly 60 million times, according to data from X. Musk’s post suggesting women should not participate in democracy had been viewed more than 19 million times.

X did not respond to CNN’s request for comment.

Read Donie O’Sullivan’s full analysis