Elon Musk didn’t waste a second pushing anti-vaxx conspiracy theories after news broke that Bronny James suffered a cardiac arrest during basketball practice. You would think Musk would have his hands full with his disastrous Twitter rebrand, but nope, the embattled CEO immediately jumped at the opportunity to blame the COVID vaccine for James’ medical emergency.
“We cannot ascribe everything to the vaccine, but, by the same token, we cannot ascribe nothing,” Musk said in response to a tweet reporting James’ condition. “Myocarditis is a known side-effect. The only question is whether it is rare or common.”
We cannot ascribe everything to the vaccine, but, by the same token, we cannot ascribe nothing.
Myocarditis is a known side-effect. The only question is whether it is rare or common.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 25, 2023
Thankfully, James, who is the son of basketball superstar Lebron James, is doing well. His family released a statement thanking the medical teams and athletic staff for their efforts.
“Yesterday while practicing Bronny James suffered a cardiac arrest. Medical staff was able to treat Bronny and take him to the hospital. He is now in stable condition and no longer in ICU,” the statement said via CNN. “We ask for respect and privacy for the James family and we will update media when there is more information. LeBron and Savannah wish to publicly send their deepest thanks and appreciation to the USC medical and athletic staff for their incredible work and dedication to the safety of their athletes.”
Nevertheless, Musk’s remarks are particularly ghoulish and dangerous given his tweets are systematically boosted by the Twitter algorithm. People wasted no time calling out Musk for pushing anti-vax conspiracy theories under the guise of “just asking questions.”
You can see some of the reactions below:
The Bronny James news has been out for 30 minutes but here’s some vaccine speculation from the owner of Twitter pic.twitter.com/9EuoHk7Bq6
— Ryan Mac (@RMac18) July 25, 2023
Jesus take the wheel https://t.co/EZ6mq7Mtmy
— Brandy Zadrozny (@BrandyZadrozny) July 25, 2023
Elon Musk is responding to Bronny James’ cardiac arrest by spreading conpsiracy theory bullshit, again, as usual, because of COURSE he is.
(The answer, we know, is that it’s EXCEEDINGLY rare. You are more likely to get myocarditis from Covid than from the vaccine. Stop this.) https://t.co/m459yjCShv
— Sam Clench (@SamClench) July 25, 2023
I was wondering which right wing weirdo would be the first to jump on Bronny James suffering cardiac arrest and I am not surprised in the least. https://t.co/z3kRrWnVlp
— Goad Gatsby (@GoadGatsby) July 25, 2023
Anti-vaxxers are the dumbest people among us. https://t.co/eC8QxEynOK
— Ryan DiPentima (@Ryan_DiPentima) July 25, 2023
This guy is vaccinated and had all of his 45 kids he doesn’t see vaccinated too. https://t.co/ZvQZA8nwjj
— Ryan (Threads: @tvisgreatest) (@tvisgreat) July 25, 2023
You can barely keep this app from crashing every other week. I think you should sit this one out mr webMD. https://t.co/F3GvVwXeEb
— New Robbery Who Dis (@Swaggsocali) July 25, 2023
Elon is either dangerously stupid or consciously evil https://t.co/OWgcLHkUj9
— Opinionated Wino (@opinionatedwino) July 25, 2023
Oh, fuX you, Elon. https://t.co/KFHEGt5VGF
— Kevin Roberts (@ripkevinroberts) July 25, 2023
(Via Elon Musk on Twitter)