Elon Musk Calls for60 MinutesJournalists to Get a 'Long Prison Sentence'

Mar. 15, 2025

A photo of Elon Musk and ‘60 Minutes’ correspondent Bill Whitaker.Photo:KENNY HOLSTON/THE NEW YORK TIMES/11276477p/AFP via Getty; Eugene Gologursky/Getty

KENNY HOLSTON/THE NEW YORK TIMES/11276477p/AFP via Getty; Eugene Gologursky/Getty

Elon Muskis targeting the journalists behind60 Minutes.

The Tesla CEO, 53, spoke out against the CBS News broadcast after itshared a quote on Xfrom former Republican USAID Administrator Andrew Natsios, in which he denies PresidentDonald Trump’s claims that the agency “is rife with fraud.”

“60 Minutes are the biggest liars in the world!”respondedMusk, who worked to dismantle USAID in recent weeks.

Musk then shared a clip of60 Minutescorrespondent Bill Whitaker interviewing former Vice PresidentKamala Harrisduring the 2024 election — an exchange which Trump has claimed was dishonestly edited.

“They engaged in deliberate deception to interfere with the last election," Musk wrote in the Feb. 16 X post. “They deserve a long prison sentence."

PEOPLE reached out to CBS News for comment about Musk’s suggestion that60 Minutesstaff be jailed.

Elon Musk wears a MAGA hat in the Oval Office on Feb. 11, 2025.Aaron Schwartz/CNP/Bloomberg/Getty

Aaron Schwartz/CNP/Bloomberg/Getty

Musk’s post comes months after Trump filed a lawsuit against CBS, demanding billions of dollars in damages and claiming that60 Minutesdeceptively edited Harris’ fall 2024 interview in order to “mislead the public and attempt to tip the scales” of the presidential election in her favor, according to theLos Angeles TimesandThe Associated Press.

In February, as a result of the lawsuit, CBSreleased the videos and full transcriptof its interview segments with Harris.

CBS also shared a statement saying that they decided to share the media in order to show that their “broadcast was not doctored or deceitful.”

Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

“… Each excerpt reflects the substance of the vice president’s answer. As the full transcript shows, we edited the interview to ensure that as much of the vice president’s answers to60 Minutes' many questions were included in our original broadcast while fairly representing those answers,” the company continued. “60 Minutes' hard-hitting questions of the vice president speak for themselves.”

A federal judge denied CBS’motion to throw out Trump’s lawsuiton Monday, Feb. 10, after Trump amended his lawsuit to ask for $20 billion in damages instead of $10 billion, according toVariety.

CBS has called the lawsuit “completely without merit,” and argued that its edits on the60 Minutesbroadcast were protected under the First Amendment. Still, reports have circulated that CBS’s parent company, Paramount Global, is seeking to settle the lawsuit, perNPR.

Paramount Global is currently in the middle of a reported $8 million-merger with Skydance Media, which is expected to close in April 2025, per theLA Times.

source: people.com