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Misleading - The journalist who made the decision: Eleni Kritsalou

On November 8th, 2022, an article published on the Greek “The Standard” reported that billionaire Elon Musk wanted Republicans to win, without mentioning in the title that it refers to the elections for the US Congress (midterm elections). In the article it is mentioned that just days after taking control of Twitter, billionaire Elon Musk urged Americans to vote for Republican congressional candidates in the US midterm elections. It goes on by quoting a tweet made by Elon Musk, saying that shared power curbs eventual excesses of both parties and therefore he recommended voting for a Republican Congress, given that the Presidency is Democratic. According to the article, Elon Musk claimed to appeal to "independent" voters, since "hardline Democrats or Republicans never vote for the opposing side." Then it added that Musk's call was not well-received by those who expressed concerns about an eventual political exploitation of the social networking platform. The billionaire owner of SpaceX and Tesla had promised before buying Twitter that the platform would remain politically neutral and accommodate all opinions. The article concluded that Elon Musk often commented on US political developments and that he had recently endorsed the prospect of an eventual nomination of Republican Florida Governor Ron DeSantis for the 2024 presidential election, considering that former President Donald Trump is too old for a second term in the White House. The facts The fact is that on November 7th, 2022, on the eve of the United States Congress elections, Elon Musk who a few days before had just concluded the acquisition of Twitter, tweeted the following: “To independent-minded voters: Shared power curbs the worst excesses of both parties, therefore I recommend voting for a Republican Congress, given that the Presidency is Democratic”. (https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1589639376186724354) He went on by tweeting that “Hardcore Democrats or Republicans never vote for the other side, so independent voters are the ones who actually decide who’s in charge!” (https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1589644018727936001) But, in another tweet, on the same day, Elon Musk said: “To be clear, my historical party affiliation has been Independent, with an actual voting history of entirely Democrat until this year.” (https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1589722050998210561) Adding that he was open to the idea of voting Democrat again in the future. (https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1589730392420278272) With regard to DeSantis, Elon Musk has said that he would back him if he runs for president in 2024. Musk described DeSantis as a “sensible and centrist” choice (https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/11/26/elon-musk-ron-desantis-election/). Verdict Taking into account all the above, Elon Musk had indeed urged voters to vote for the Republicans, but just for the House midterm elections and not in general. Instead, he wanted to be clear that he has been “Independent”, with an actual voting history of entirely Democrat until this year and that he was open to the idea of voting Democrat again in the future. Thus, though this is not a fake-news case, we could call it rather misleading just for the title chosen.