Elon Musk faces the risk of permanent loss of voice after being infected with a new COVID-19 variant? Not the latest news, but the story about the side effects of the COVID-19 vaccine on Elon Musk still attracts many people’s attention.

Billionaire Elon Musk questioned why Bronny James—college basketball player and son of Lebron James—went into cardiac arrest, linking the medical emergency, without evidence, to the Covid-19 vaccine in a tweet Tuesday, the latest in a series of questionable and sometimes false comments from Musk.

In the past three years Elon Musk has continued to spread questionable and sometimes false … More

AP/Susan Walsh

Timeline

July 25, 2023Musk responded to the news of James’ cardiac arrest, saying, “We cannot ascribe everything to the vaccine, but, by the same token, we cannot ascribe nothing,” adding,“Myocarditis is a known side-effect” of the Covid-19 vaccine, referencing inflammation of the heart, which has been reported as a side effect affecting about 0.0004% of shot recipients.

May 29, 2023Musk shared an article on Twitter citing Israeli data that claimed that “zero young healthy individuals died of COVID-19”–a claim that was later discredited by Israel’s health minister.

February 26, 2023Musk suggested Anthony Fauci funded the creation of Covid-19 saying, “he did it via a pass-through organization (EcoHealth),” referencing the government funding of the research performed by EcoHealth at a Wuhan lab (there is no scientific agreement that the lab created Covid-19 but some agencies say it’s possible).

January 21, 2023In response to Rasmussen Poll on Covid-19 side effects, Musk tweeted he had “major side effects” from his second booster and said he hoped there was no permanent damage “but I dunno.”

January 15, 2023While saying he supported vaccines generally, Musk suggested the “cure/vaccine is potentially worse” than the disease if vaccines are administered to the whole population—an opinion shared by many who believe in natural immunity which medical experts say is less safe than getting the Covid-19 vaccine.

December 11, 2022The Twitter chief called for the prosecution of Fauci, tweeting “My pronouns are Prosecute/Fauci.”

December 13, 2021In an interview with Time magazine, which named him Person of the Year in 2021, Musk said he and his children had received the vaccine, saying “the science is unequivocal,” but that he opposed vaccine mandates, citing the “erosion of freedom in America.”

September 28, 2020During an interview with the New York Times, Musk said he wouldn’t take a Covid-19 vaccine once it became available and stressed the low mortality rate despite the virus killing millions of people—more than a year later he said he and his eligible children got the jab.

March 6, 2020As the virus spread and millions of people were infected, Musk tweeted, “the coronavirus panic is dumb.”

Surprising Fact

Musk’s tweet responding to news of James’ cardiac arrest was met with a fact-check from the social media platform that was later removed. The fact-check noted the risk of myocarditis is significantly higher after a Covid infection than after receiving a Covid-19 vaccine.

Tangent

While Musk has amplified some conspiracy theories, he’s also made clear his opposition to government-imposed vaccine mandates as a matter of individual rights and freedom. In January 2022, Musk tweeted his support for Canadian truckers who were protesting a government vaccine mandate, saying, “Freedom is being stripped away one piece at a time until it is gone.” When officials in California forced nonessential business to close, Musk fought against the move and eventually reopened Tesla’s California factory, defying their rules. After reopening, hundreds of plant employees tested positive for the coronavirus, according to a document released by transparency group PlainSite. Musk also called orders to shelter-in-place in April 2020 “fascist” and “breaking people’s freedoms in ways that are horrible and wrong and not why they came to America or built this country.”

Key Background

Since news of the pandemic began spreading in March 2020, Musk has made his skepticism of the virus and the vaccine known on social media. Musk and members of his family may have contracted the virus themselves. In November 2020, Musk tweeted that he was experiencing cold-like symptoms and “most likely” had a mild case of Covid-19. Since his potential infection and statement that he would not get vaccinated, Musk has continued to embrace vaccine skepticism and conspiracy theories, despite saying in 2021 that he was vaccinated. In addition to his doubts about the vaccine, Musk has attacked George Soros with claims that the billionaire hated humanity and wanted to “erode the very fabric of civilization.” Musk compared Soros, a Jewish Holocaust survivor, to comic book villain Magneto, who has been depicted as a Holocaust survivor. He’s also publicly doubted a mass shooter’s widely reported far-right connections while calling the related shooting a “psyop.”