MSNBC host Rachel Maddow has once again found herself in hot water after making false claims about President Donald Trump giving Elon Musk a $400 million contract to buy armored Teslas. The liberal pundit, known for her questionable takes and liberal meltdowns, fabricated this narrative despite no evidence to back up the allegation. This latest misstep only adds to the growing list of inaccuracies from Maddow and other left-wing media figures attempting to distort the truth to discredit Trump and Musk.
Drop Site News highlighted a reference to a $400 million expenditure on "Armored Teslas" in the State Department's 2025 procurement forecast. However, the outlet overlooked that the department routinely allocates substantial funds for armored vehicles. What raised eyebrows was the apparent edit made to the original spreadsheet, which removed the Tesla mention before it was re-uploaded, leaving room for speculation.
After the outlet published the article, Maddow had a field day with it during her show on Thursday night.
“Musk has convinced the government to spend $400 million on armored Teslas. Definitely not corrupt and ripping us all off?” Maddow said.
However, Trump did not give that contract to Musk— former President Joe Biden did.
Rachel Maddow spews FAKE NEWS and whines about "corruption" saying President Trump gave Elon Musk a $400 million contract to buy armored Teslas.
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) February 14, 2025
But oops!!
It was actually Joe Biden. pic.twitter.com/LPSoRW2V3N
Although Maddow accused Musk of "self-dealing" regarding the multi-million dollar armored Tesla deal, she neglected to mention that the procurement list was revised under Biden on December 13, 2024— several weeks before Trump took office. The State Department stated that the Biden administration had requested it to explore options for adding armor to off-the-shelf electric vehicles, and the project was still in its initial phases.
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A State Department Spokesperson told Gizmodo that once the document was made public, someone edited the spreadsheet to remove mention of “Tesla.” The State Department stated it was fixing a mistake, claiming that “it should have been a generic entry ‘electric vehicle manufacturer.”
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