Did Elon Musk buy CNN in November 2024? No, that's not true: A CNN spokesperson told Lead Stories "there is no truth in rumors of a sale or change in ownership of CNN whatsoever." The assertion was made by Argentinian President Javier Milei and was picked up by Argentinian news outlets, but he offered no proof of such a sale. An article on a website that publishes fake stories about famous people said in October 2024 that Musk was considering buying CNN. The site describes itself as satire, and the original article was clearly labeled as satire.
The claim appeared in a post (archived here) on X on November 7, 2024. It opened:
🚨🇺🇸BREAKING- Clarin is reporting that ELON MUSK HAS BOUGHT CNN
Reportedly, Javier Milei revealed that Elon Musk has bought the News media Company and that it will be President Trump's 'Chainsaw'
This is a HUGE blow to the deep state if true! LFG💪🏾
This is what the post looked like on X at the time of writing:
(Source: X screenshot taken on Fri Nov 8 19:12:32 2024 UTC)
"There is no truth in rumors of a sale or change in ownership of CNN whatsoever," Mariana Piñango, director, News Communications LatAm for CNN (archived here), told Lead Stories via email on November 8, 2024. She added:
Any statements to the contrary are completely false.
The social media post cites the Argentinian news outlet Clarin's post on X (archived here). The caption is translated using Google:
Javier Milei reveló que Elon Musk "se compró" CNN y que será la motosierra de Donald Trump
Translated from Spanish by
Javier Milei revealed that Elon Musk 'bought' CNN and that it will be Donald Trump's chainsaw
Javier Milei reveló que Elon Musk "se compró" CNN y que será la motosierra de Donald Trumphttps://t.co/5OjabZXKPp
-- Clarín (@clarincom) November 8, 2024
The article published on Clarin (archived here), and translated with Google Translate, details Milei's comments about Musk and CNN at the 100th anniversary of the Argentine Chamber of Commerce and Services:
He also placed his hopes on a possible change in public opinion if the economic results of his administration improve: 'This is something to get excited about. You're going to see that what Donald Trump does will be talked about a little better, because today Elon Musk bought that filthy "woke" bastion that was CNN, which means that now we're not only going to have freedom in X, but we're also going to have a network that's not so socialist, so left-wing. Society will have to get used to growth culturally, after a decade of an economy without growth, with a stunned society. We had gotten used to misery, and now we'll get used to misery.'
This screenshot is from the news article:
(Source: X screenshot taken on Fri Nov 8 20:34:11 2024 UTC)
The Buenos Aires Herald reported (archived here) on Milei's claim about CNN, noting that he said it "three weeks after a spoof article about Musk possibly acquiring the network was published on a satire site." Lead Stories used Google Translate on this article.
The spoof article is from SpaceXMania (archived here) published on October 18, 2024, titled, "Elon Musk Reportedly Eyeing CNN Acquisition: 'I'll Fix the Media, One Network at a Time.'" The first topic tag below the headline read "SATIRE."
Nacho Girón, a CNN radio host in Argentina, said on air on November 8, 2024, that Milei's claim was false, as this video posted on YouTube (archived here) shows. Lead Stories used Google Translate for the text from the transcript:
Javier Milei said, with words that were really very critical, that Elon Musk had bought our chain, CNN ... I'm in a position to say, and I'm sure that the channel will confirm it later, I have a statement that clarifies, in very concrete terms and very emphatically, that this is false information. Elon has nothing to do with CNN.
The SpaceXMania website About Us section (archived here) notes they publish "fake news":
Welcome to our website, owned and operated by Funky Productions LLC. We are a team of writers and editors based in New York, USA. Our mission? To bring you the freshest fake news, some sassy analysis, and a good dose of satire, all rolled into one crazy concoction that orbits around Elon Musk and everything that's lighting up the viral/trending charts.
Other fact checking agencies have also reviewed this claim, including PolitiFact.
Additional Lead Stories fact checks regarding Elon Musk can be found here.
