Politics

Elon Musk slams Kamala Harris for ‘lying’ about Trump on X

Elon Musk called out Vice President Kamala Harris on Monday for “lying” about former President Donald Trump’s abortion stance, while proclaiming that the social media platform’s “community notes” feature keeps politicians accountable when trying to spread falsehoods about their opponents.

Harris said Sunday on her X account that Trump “would ban abortion nationwide” and that she and President Biden will do “everything” in their “power to stop him and restore women’s reproductive freedom.”

Elon Musk said Kamala Harris was “lying” about Trump’s record on abortion. X / @elonmusk

Her post was then flagged by a community note stating that “President Trump has repeatedly said he will not sign a national abortion ban.”

“When will politicians, or at least the intern who runs their account, learn that lying on this platform doesn’t work anymore?” Musk responded in an X post of his own.

Elon Musk arrives at the 10th Annual Breakthrough Prize Ceremony at
Academy Museum of Motion Pictures on April 13, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. FilmMagic

Trump has indeed said he will not enact a national abortion ban, despite calls for it from some Republicans, and would leave regulation of the procedure up to the states.

“I put three great Supreme Court justices on the court and they happened to vote in favor of killing Roe v. Wade, and moving it back to the states,” the former president said at the first debate with Biden on Thursday. “Now the states are working it out.”

Trump added that he does believe that abortion should be allowed in cases of rape, incest and to spare the life of the mother.

“What happened is we brought it back to the states and the country is now coming together on this issue. It’s been a great thing,” the 78-year-old said.

Biden, meanwhile, reiterated that he would restore Roe v. Wade if he came back into office.

Vice President Kamala Harris delivers remarks on reproductive rights at Ritchie Coliseum on the campus of the University of Maryland on June 24, 2024 in College Park, Maryland. Getty Images
Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during the Unite Here Convention on Friday, June 21, 2024, in New York. AP

“The idea that states are able to do this is a little like saying, ‘We’re going to turn civil rights back to the states, let each state have a different rule,'” the incumbent argued.

Harris has spearheaded the Biden-Harris campaign’s efforts to hit Trump for being responsible for overturning Roe v. Wade in June 2022.

Trump nominated three conservative Supreme Court justices while he was in the White House, leading the court to rule 6-3 to overturn the 1973 opinion that legalized abortion throughout the US.

President Donald Trump participates in the CNN Presidential Debate at the CNN Studios on June 27, 2024 in Atlanta, Georgia. Getty Images

Trump had been initially quiet about his position on the issue, before making an announcement in April.

“My view is now that we have abortion where everyone wanted it from a legal standpoint, the states will determine by vote or legislation, or perhaps both. And whatever they decide must be the law of the land. In this case, the law of the state,” Trump said in a video message posted to his Truth Social page at the time.

Harris’ team pointed The Post to a press release claiming Trump will ban abortion nationwide that they released after the Musk spat. 

“Elon Musk, who is in discussions for a role in a Trump d̶i̶c̶t̶a̶t̶o̶r̶s̶h̶i̶p̶ White House, is using the platform he overpaid for to lie to Twitter followers (yeah, we ain’t calling it X),” the campaign said in the press release.

The statement noted Trump’s previous comments in 2018 supporting a federal 20-week abortion bill that was shot down by Senate Democrats.