Gov. Greg Abbott deletes tweet about SpaceX CEO Elon Musk after sexual harassment allegations
Texas Governor Greg Abbott tweeted and then deleted a post about Elon Musk after a report came out that revealed the SpaceX and Tesla CEO sexually harassed a flight attendant on a private jet in 2016.
Cooper Neill/Zuffa LLC
Texas Governor Greg Abbott tweeted and then deleted a post about Elon Musk after a report revealed the SpaceX and Tesla CEO allegedly sexually harassed a flight attendant on a private jet in 2016. On Thursday, May 19, Business Insider reported that Musk’s SpaceX paid $250,000 in 2018 to settle a sexual harassment claim from an unnamed private jet flight attendant who accused Musk of exposing himself to her.
Before the article was published, Business Insider reached out to Musk’s team for comment at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, May 18, according to a tweet from Insider’s Investigations Editor John Cook. Roughly 20 minutes later, Musk tweeted that “attacks on me will escalate dramatically in coming months.”
Musk, who is in the midst of a contentious effort to buy Twitter, also tweeted Wednesday afternoon that he would vote Republican instead of Democrat in the future, predicting a “dirty tricks campaign against me” would follow.
He also tweeted on Thursday before the article was published that “the attacks against me should be viewed through a political lens – this is their standard (despicable) playbook – but nothing will deter me from fighting for a good future and your right to free speech.” In the initial tweet, he did not specifically mention the allegations in the Business Insider article.
Abbott retweeted the “despicable playbook” tweet with a quote writing, “@elonmusk picked the right state to move to.” Musk moved to Texas in 2020, and then later moved Tesla to the Lone Star State.
The Texas Governor then deleted his tweet shortly after the Business Insider published its story. Musk has since denounced the allegations, claiming they are “utterly untrue.”
