A CNN headline says, “Elon Musk Considers Melting Down Statue of Liberty to Make Series of Limited Edition Cyber Trucks"
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CNN did not report this story about Elon Musk and the Statue of Liberty. This is fake.
If Your Time is short
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This headline does not appear on CNN’s website.
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CNN spokesperson Emily Kuhn said the outlet never reported or published a story with this headline.
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The post includes a fake image of the Statue of Liberty and borrows its byline and date and time of publication from a real CNN story — with a different headline about Musk — that does not mention Tesla or the Statue of Liberty.
Is Elon Musk plotting to destroy a national monument to use its materials for Tesla vehicles? No, a CNN headline that claims so is fabricated.
A screenshot posted on Threads Dec. 1 showed what looked like a Nov. 25 CNN headline that read, "Elon Musk Considers Melting Down Statue of Liberty To Make Series of Limited Edition Cyber Trucks."
Screenshot from Threads
This post was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and Threads.)
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We searched CNN’s website, Google and the Nexis news database, but did not find a CNN story with that headline.
A reverse image search showed the image was posted Nov. 30 on Reddit with a satire label. The Threads post has no such disclaimer.
CNN spokesperson Emily Kuhn told PolitiFact that the outlet never reported or published the story and she pointed to the fake article’s Statue of Liberty image, which includes a depiction of the statue’s face that does not resemble the actual monument. "The image is clearly fabricated," Kuhn said.
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Another sign the screengrab is fake: The headline’s font does not match CNN’s other web stories. It also borrows its byline and date and time of publication — "Updated 9:40 PM EST, Mon November 25, 2024" — from a real CNN story by Brian Stelter headlined, "Elon Musk floats buying MSNBC, but he’s not the only billionaire who may be interested."
But that story makes no mention of the Statue of Liberty or Tesla.
The company made its Cybertruck available in 2023, and it has been the subject of several parts recalls. Throughout the 2024 presidential campaign, Musk often used his X platform to amplify false claims about the election and immigration, but a search of his X account turned up no posts about the Statue of Liberty.
We rate the claim that this image shows a real CNN headline Pants on Fire!
Our Sources
Threads post (archived), Dec. 1, 2024
CNN search results, "Elon Musk melt statue of liberty," accessed Dec. 2, 2024
Email interview, CNN spokesperson, Emily Kuhn, Dec. 2, 2024
CNN, Elon Musk floats buying MSNBC, but he’s not the only billionaire who may be interested, Nov. 25, 2024
Reddit post, Nov. 30, 2024
Newsweek, Tesla’s Cybertruck Revolution: A Year of Fame, Flaws, and Fan Frenzy, Nov. 29, 2024
The New York Times, Tesla Issues Sixth Cybertruck Recall This Year, Nov. 13, 2024
PolitiFact, 2 weeks, 450+ posts: How Elon Musk uses his X profile to push FEMA, immigration, voting falsehoods, Oct. 23, 2024
X, search results, accessed Dec. 2, 2024
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More by Sofia Ahmed
CNN did not report this story about Elon Musk and the Statue of Liberty. This is fake.
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