Claim that Elon Musk called for Tyson Foods boycott started as satire | Fact check

Joedy McCreary, USA TODAY
·3 min read
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

The claim: Elon Musk called for a boycott of Tyson Foods

A March 23 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) shows an image of Tesla CEO Elon Musk alongside the Tyson Foods logo.

“Elon Musk Calls for Boycott of Tyson Foods,” reads text in the image, which also quotes Musk as saying, “I Will Never Buy From Tyson Foods Ever Again!”

The post was shared more than 100 times in three days.

More from the Fact-Check Team: How we pick and research claims | Email newsletter | Facebook page

Our rating: False

The claim originated on a satirical account, but the Facebook post gives no indication of that. There is no credible evidence Musk has called for a boycott of Tyson.

No reference in post to claim’s satirical origin

Tyson announced March 11 that it would close its pork processing plant in Perry, Iowa, a move that will eliminate more than 1,200 jobs in a town of about 8,000 people. The company also plans to hire thousands of immigrants, including refugees and other non-citizens, to fill unpleasant jobs. The Facebook claim appears to tap into outcry from some social media users who wrongly attempted to link those developments.

Fact check: No, Tyson Foods isn't putting insects in human food; this is for pets and fish

But the claim that Musk called for a boycott of Tyson is false. There are no credible reports about such a development. While Musk owns X (formerly Twitter) and is a prolific user of the platform, he has not posted the quote attributed to him (or even used the word "Tyson") in any of his posts.

The claim originated in a March 23 post from The Patriots Lovers, a Facebook account that states in its bio, “We specialize in SATIRE (and) humor." The account is affiliated with the satirical SpaceX Mania network of websites, which is unaffiliated with Musk's company SpaceX. The network's publisher, Tim Lawson, confirmed in an email to USA TODAY that the claim is a fabrication.

But the Facebook post that later shared the claim makes no mention of the claim's satirical origin.

It is an example of what could be called "stolen satire," where images originally presented as satire are captured and reposted in a way that makes them appear to be legitimate news. As a result, readers of the second-generation post are misled, which is what happened here.

Musk has been a frequent subject of misinformation on social media. Among the false claims debunked by USA TODAY include assertions that he claimed on Joe Rogan’s podcast to believe in the flat Earth conspiracy theory and that he was moving X headquarters from “woke” San Francisco to Texas.

The Facebook user who shared the post could not be reached.

Lead Stories also debunked the claim.

Our fact-check sources:

  • Tim Lawson, March 25, Email exchange with USA TODAY

  • The Patriots Lovers (Archive Today), March 25, Facebook profile

  • The Patriots Lovers (Archive Today), March 25, Facebook post

  • Elon Musk, March 25, X search

Thank you for supporting our journalism. You can subscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or e-newspaper here.

USA TODAY is a verified signatory of the International Fact-Checking Network, which requires a demonstrated commitment to nonpartisanship, fairness and transparency. Our fact-check work is supported in part by a grant from Meta.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: No, Elon Musk didn't call for Tyson Foods boycott | Fact check