On April 25, 2023, an article titled "Elon Musk Offers Tucker Carlson the Role of Twitter CEO After Fox News Firing" was published on Spacexmania and soon went viral. The article also spread days after Carlson interviewed Musk on Fox News, one of the last interviews the host conducted before getting fired.
Carlson was fired from Fox News on April 24, 2023, for undisclosed reasons. His firing occurred a week after Fox News settled a defamation lawsuit with Dominion Voting Systems for $787.5 million over the network's dissemination of 2020 election misinformation; Carlson also was exposed for disparaging his colleagues. Abby Grossberg, a former tv booker, also filed a lawsuit against Fox News alleging sexism on Carlson's show.
The Spacexmania article stated that Musk made the announcement about Carlson's hiring on Twitter, writing: "I'm thrilled to welcome Tucker Carlson as the new CEO of Twitter. I can't wait to see what he'll do with the platform."
The article says:
The move has been met with widespread confusion and disbelief, with many questioning Musk's judgment and Carlson's qualifications for the role.
After all, Carlson is known primarily for his controversial opinions and divisive rhetoric, rather than his expertise in technology or social media.
But according to Musk, Carlson is the perfect person to lead Twitter into the future. "Tucker has a proven track record of engaging with people and getting them riled up," he explained. "That's exactly what we need at Twitter right now."
Despite the skepticism, Carlson seems to be taking the job seriously. In a statement to the press, he expressed his excitement at the opportunity to take on this new challenge. "I'm honored to be chosen as the new CEO of Twitter," he said. "I can't wait to get started and bring my unique perspective to this important role."
But this is a work of satire. Musk did not offer Carlson the job. Spacexmania describes itself as a satirical website:
Welcome to our website, owned and operated by Funky Creations LTD. We are a team of writers and editors based in New York, USA, dedicated to providing our readers with the latest news, analysis, and satire related to Elon Musk, Space, SpaceX, and everything in between.
Our website has a strong presence on social media, where we engage with our readers, share breaking news, and showcase our latest satirical articles.
Musk himself responded to a tweet suggesting he hire Carlson for a different role. A Twitter user wrote, "Elon Musk should hire Tucker Carlson and start a video service to compete with YouTube."
Musk tweeted in response, "Or we don't hire anyone, but simply enable content creators to prosper on this platform without applying censorship that goes beyond the law."
Carlson is not the first person Musk has been pushed to hire at Twitter. Another satirical post claimed he hired Donald Trump Jr.
Given that the website from which the article originated is labeled satirical in nature, we rate this claim as "Labeled Satire."