Elon Musk has reconsidered his stance after initially seeming to echo claims of alleged election bias by Google, following posts on X/Twitter that accused the tech giant of favouring Democratic candidate Kamala Harris. Musk, CEO of X/Twitter and a supporter of Donald Trump, shared a post from the cryptocurrency account @cb_doge.
What Did Elon Musk Say Earlier?
The post included a video showing a search query for voting locations in Texas, which allegedly appeared biased toward Harris. The account stated, “Breaking: Google displays a ‘where to vote’ map for Kamala Harris, but not for Donald Trump. Google is the largest donor to the Democratic Party.”
Musk questioned, “Are others seeing this too?” However, it turned out the search highlighted Harris because of Harris County, a large region in Texas. A Community Notes clarification was added to the tweet, explaining that the search worked due to Harris being a county name in Texas and also worked with other place names like Clark, Clinton, and Franklin.
It stated, “It does not work if there is no city/county/state with the same name: Kamala, Trump Waltz.”
Musk also responded with a raised eyebrow emoji to another post that accused Google of potential bias, showing an image of Harris when searching for Election Day updates.
Are others seeing this too? https://t.co/mlwRY08hgo
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 5, 2024
Google Puts Elon Musk On The Spot
Google’s official account on X/Twitter, @NewsFromGoogle, clarified the issue by explaining that the “where to vote” panel appeared for certain names because they matched counties, such as Harris in Texas or Vance. They mentioned that a fix was in progress and noted that few people search for voting locations in this way.
After the clarification, Musk acknowledged the explanation by replying, “Thanks for the clarification.” The 2024 election is predicted to be one of the closest in modern American history, with Trump continuing to promote baseless claims that the election process is rigged.
Musk has echoed these concerns and has appeared alongside Trump at rallies. Reports indicate Musk may spend Election Day with Trump at Mar-a-Lago as results are reported. Millions of Americans are currently casting their votes in what is anticipated to be a highly contested presidential race.
Thanks for the clarification https://t.co/JReZUGiWF8
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 5, 2024
