Elon Musk Says He's Being Targeted By 'Mainstream Media' After Report Said He Spoke To Putin Before Floating Peace Plan

Elon Musk took to Twitter late Tuesday to express anguish over being purportedly targeted by mainstream media.

What Happened: The Tesla Inc. TSLA CEO shared a meme showing the media tailing him in cars. 

“Me tryin’ to escape mainstream media,” was written over Musk's hypothetical car. The various tactics the media was apparently employing to victimize him were labeled on the cars that followed him. These included “half-truths,” “staged events,” “unbalanced coverage,” “fabrications,” and “propaganda” among others.

pic.twitter.com/WDtHXqgUPx

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 11, 2022

See Also: Elon Musk Alleges Mainstream Media Wrote 'Bogus Articles' About Tesla And Him — Defends Joe Rogan

Musk’s tweet comes in the wake of reports that suggested the billionaire spoke to Vladimir Putin before sharing a peace plan on Twitter to stop the Russia-Ukraine war.

Reports that Musk and Putin spoke were based on statements made by Ian Bremmer, founder and president of Eurasia Group. According to Bremmer, Musk told him of the conversation with Putin and what transpired between them.

Musk responded by suggesting that Bremmer was lying and that the media reports weren’t true.

Why It’s Important: This isn’t the first time Musk has criticized mainstream media. In March, he called out mainstream media for being “crazy/dangerous” after an Independent story took potshots at British comedian Russell Brand for profiting from his “topical controversy-mongering” YouTube videos. The Tesla CEO had said then that he found the "groupthink" among the media outlets to be troubling, adding that there should be dissent.

In April, he said in a tweet that he found America’s lack of trust in mainstream media as a “real problem.”

In 2020, during a Hack Club AMA, Musk said mainstream media is pushing out "clickbaits," instead of quality journalism to chase ad dollars and prediced that media would move toward citizen journalism in the future.

Photo: Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons