For your listening pleasure
/
London, we have lift off
Elon Musk Takes Ownership of the BBC After Epic Exchange With Dishonest Reporter
Fun, fun, fun. Chortle as the smarmy, oh-so-superior BBC reporter is eviscerated by Musk. Howl with laughter when the reporter starts stammering, then stuttering, then desperately tries to switch subjects and is pie-in-the-faced there, too.
Hahahaha.
Elon Musk participated in an interview on Tuesday evening and ended up taking ownership of the BBC by the time it was over. In an epic exchange, the billionaire worked over James Clayton, a reporter from the British network, after he attempted to push claims about “hate speech” and COVID labeling on Twitter.
The clip is about four minutes long, and it’s worth the listen.
I’ll transcribe a few of the highlights, but again, you really need to listen to the entire thing to get the full impact. Musk employs a strategy throughout the interview that I’ve long been a fan of when interacting with the mainstream press. Namely, he doesn’t accept unproven premises that set up biased questions. When a reporter says something meant to paint you into a corner, make them prove what they are saying is even true.
Early on in the clip, Clayton tries to suggest that hate speech is more prevalent on Twitter after Musk’s acquisition because there aren’t enough content moderators. Here’s how that went.
After that back and forth, Musk starts pressing Clayton for specific examples. The reporter can’t give a single one. From then on, Musk knows he’s got him, and the rhetorical knife is just driven deeper.
The BBC reporter is clearly rattled midway through the clip so he runs to an old standby: Citing “experts” to prove a point those experts haven’t proven themselves. Musk responds by saying that “people will say all sorts of nonsense,” again noting that Clayton can’t provide a single example of the “hateful content” he’s claiming is more prevalent.
At that point, Clayton suddenly tries to change subjects to COVID “misinformation” labeling on Twitter, which Musk removed shortly after taking over the company. The battle turns into a rout from there. Musk points out that the BBC spread lots of misinformation about COVID regarding masking and vaccine efficacy and the reporter again tries to change the subject. I’ll let you listen to the end of the clip to see how things wrapped up.
In summary, that is how you handle a hostile reporter seeking to push a narrative. …..
