The back-and-forth between Elon Musk and the New York Times over the paper’s report about his alleged drug use during President Trump’s 2024 campaign has continued.
Early Tuesday, Musk posted on X, the social network he controls, what looked like the results of a urine drug screen showing that he tested negative for 20 substances, including ketamine — which the Times last month had reported was among the drugs he had used “far more intensely than previously known” in 2024. The image indicated that Musk’s urine sample was collected June 11. He posted the image with the caption: “lol.”
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Musk, currently the world’s richest individual, last month had said on X, “I am NOT taking drugs! The New York Times was lying their ass off” while he acknowledged that he had taken “prescription ketamine a few years ago.”
In response to Musk’s post with the purported drug-test results, the New York Times PR account on X said, “Elon Musk is continuing to lash out because he doesn’t like our reporting. Nothing that he’s said or presented since our article about his drug use during the presidential campaign was published contradicts what we uncovered. We stand by our journalism.”
To that, Musk replied by posting the “Why Are You Gae” meme. According to website Gayety, users “often post this meme,” which originated from a 2012 debate on a Ugandan TV show, “alongside a supposedly ‘non-masculine’ activity.” Musk also wrote in reply to the New York Times, “I literally just posted ‘lol’ and the drug test results. How exactly is that ‘lashing out’? 🤣🤣.”
The New York Times article about Musk’s alleged drug use, published May 30, said that his “drug consumption went well beyond occasional use. He told people he was taking so much ketamine, a powerful anesthetic, that it was affecting his bladder, a known effect of chronic use. He took Ecstasy and psychedelic mushrooms. And he traveled with a daily medication box that held about 20 pills, including ones with the markings of the stimulant Adderall, according to a photo of the box and people who have seen it.”
Musk, who is the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, was formerly a close ally of President Trump and donated about $275 million to his 2024 election campaign. Musk headed the Department of Government Efficiency for the Trump administration before he exited as a “special government employee” in late May. The two men had a major falling out over the Trump-backed Congressional spending bill, which Musk called “a disgusting abomination.” Trump alleged that Musk was unhappy because the bill removed incentives for electric vehicles, which would benefit Tesla. The feud escalated and Musk alleged in an post on X (which he has since deleted) that Trump “is in the Epstein files,” which is “is the real reason they haven’t been made public.”
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