Tesla CEO Elon Musk stated he is considering legal action against media outlets over their coverage of the Cybertruck explosion that occurred Wednesday outside the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas, Politico reported.
Conservative activist Robby Starbuck suggested on X that Musk “should consider suing outlets who framed the story like this,” sharing a screenshot of a Business Insider article about the incident. Business Insider is owned by Axel Springer, the parent company of POLITICO.
The article’s headline misleadingly describes the incident as a “Cybertruck explosion,” which could lead some to believe that the explosion was spontaneous due to a Tesla defect when, in reality, the vehicle was packed with explosives and reportedly detonated by the driver.
“These headlines are sabotaging @Tesla’s brand by making people think it caught on fire,” Starbuck continued. “There’s about 1 Tesla fire for every 130 million miles traveled. Other cars have 1 every 18 million miles.”
“Maybe it is time to do so,” Musk wrote in response to the suggestion to consider suing.
The billionaire CEO, who has close ties to President-elect Donald Trump, has posted multiple times on X, the social media platform he owns, criticizing the media’s coverage of the incident and defending the safety of the vehicle.
“The fact that this was a Cybertruck really limited the damage that occurred inside the valet because it had most of the blast go up through the truck and out,” Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Sheriff Kevin McMahill told reporters during a news conference this week after the incident.
Musk reposted a video of the conference, writing: “The evil knuckleheads picked the wrong vehicle for a terrorist attack. Cybertruck actually contained the explosion and directed the blast upwards. Not even the glass doors of the lobby were broken.”
A hotel official said that when the driver of the Cybertruck pulled into the valet area, the truck blew up. So far, the driver is the only person who has died in the accident. Seven others were injured, according to the police.
The official said that the truck was in front of the hotel for 15 to 20 seconds before it detonated.
Musk assisted with the investigation, according to the sheriff. He had the truck opened after it auto-locked in the blast and gave police video of the suspect at charging stations on the way from Colorado to Las Vegas.
He said that detectives were looking into any possible links to the attack in New Orleans earlier Wednesday but had not yet found any. Sources say that the truck used in the attack in New Orleans was also rented through the Turo app.
At the news conference in Las Vegas, a video showed a load of explosives that looked like fireworks, gas cans, and camping fuel containers in the back of the truck.
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Las Vegas Metro Police Sheriff Kevin McMahill said police believe the explosion was an “isolated incident” and that “there is no further threat to the community.” He also said police do not believe anyone was helping the Las Vegas suspect.
“We believe everything is safe now,” McMahill said.
The property is the subject of heightened security amid many threats because of its connection to President-elect Donald Trump.
Musk, a close ally of Trump, said on Wednesday afternoon that the “whole Tesla senior team is investigating this matter right now.”
“Will post more information as soon as we learn anything,” Musk wrote on X, which he also owns. “We’ve never seen anything like this.”
Musk later posted on X: “We have now confirmed that the explosion was caused by very large fireworks and/or a bomb carried in the bed of the rented Cybertruck and is unrelated to the vehicle itself.”