No, Elon Musk hasn’t vowed to acquire MSNBC and fire Joy Reid

Entrepreneur Elon Musk is forever threatening to take over MSNBC — at least in consistent, unfounded social media posts.

“Elon Musk confirms he will spend a massive amount to acquire MSNBC, vows to fire Joy Reid to ‘end toxicity,’” a Jan. 25 Instagram post said, referring to the MSNBC host of “The ReidOut.”

This post was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and Threads.)

We previously fact-checked a claim that that podcaster Joe Rogan was primed to replace MSNBC host Rachel Maddow after a “Musk takeover.”

That claim originated on a self-described satire site, and it appears this one did, too.

We found no credible evidence, such as press releases or public statements from Musk, MSNBC or Reid — to corroborate this post. 

Among the fabricated headlines on SpaceX Fanclub, a Facebook page that notes “nothing on this page is real,” is this one from Nov. 28, 2024: “Elon Musk promises major shake-up at MSNBC, vows to fire Reid – satire.”

The Facebook post about Musk vowing to fire Reid to ‘end toxicity’ lacks such a satire label. We rate it False.