Did Elon Musk call Texas Gov.-elect Gina Hinojosa "a puppet of Barack Obama and Kamala Harris"? No, that's not true: The quote attributed to the tech billionaire on social media was made up. Lead Stories found no traces of it on open sources, including Musk's own account on X and news reports published by established media organizations.
The claim appeared in a post (archived here) on Facebook where it was published by @jeffrylroush on Nov. 8, 2026. It opened:
Musk's response after the threats -MUSK: 'Gina is nothing more than a puppet of Barack Obama and Kamala Harris. Democratic Party power brokers put her in that position to advance their own political interests. But here's the reality: they need me far more than I need them. If they don't want me in Texas, I'm prepared to pack up and relocate to Florida without hesitation.I can already see what she's planning. She will attempt to interfere with Cybertruck manufacturing by hiding behind increased taxation, but everyone understands the real motivation. Her political allies in the deep state want to punish me for standing behind Donald Trump during the election.This confrontation goes beyond my businesses. Their real objective is Trump, and they believe targeting me is another way to get to him. What they seem to have forgotten is that the President still possesses veto powers.I'm certainly not intimidated by Gina Hinojosa. Whenever she makes these threats, I simply find them amusing. Any reckless decision she makes will ultimately damage Texas, its economy and its residents much more than it will affect my companies.Let's see whether Gina genuinely intends to protect the interests of Texans or whether she is willing to undermine everything the state has accomplished simply because of political hostility.'Seems like a pure GENIUS MOVE to harass the richest man on the planet who invests BILLIONS IN YOUR STATE, while employing THOUSANDS.To the people who voted for this, you reap what you sow.
This is what the image attached to the post looked like on Facebook at the time of publication:
(Image source: post by @jeffrylroush on Facebook.)
Lead Stories searched for the word "puppet" across Musk's posts on X, and there were several instances when the tech billionaire used it. However, none of those posts were published after the 2026 midterms and, thus, could not be a response to Gov.-elect Gina Hinojosa's victory in Texas (archived here).
(Image source: X.)
Search of Google News for the keywords seen here, here and here (archived here, here and here) did not return any reports from established news outlets.
When Lead Stories searched for the precise wording from the purported quote outside of major social media networks (archived here), tthe search did not return established sources corroborating the claim.
Musk was one of the tech billionaires who once left California for Texas (archived here), relocating their companies as well. During the 2026 election campaign, he spent tens of millions of dollars in that state (archived here), supporting Republican candidates who lost. Shortly after the election, Hinojosa and Musk exchanged comments, suggesting tensions, but, as of this writing, that was primarily related to the future of a land deal (archived here).
While Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis spoke supportively (archived here) of the idea of Musk relocating to his state, Musk did not make such an announcement on the main outlet he uses as a means of communicating with the world: his account on X.
As for the future of Musk's Cybertrucks, he made no mention of the supposed increased taxation while announcing that Tesla would wind down Cybertruck production in mid-2027 (archived here). He said the company would prioritize making the self-driving Cybercab.
