New Conspiracy Theory Just Dropped

The Claim:

https://x.com/AdamParkhomenko/status/1885012231038828780

https://x.com/AP/status/1885021291624755683

https://x.com/BowTiedRanger/status/1886096861678698550

The Debunk:

https://x.com/KyleKulinski/status/1884987093782282422 (FAA quit, musk wanted him out, but no direct evidence)

https://www.thedailybeast.com/faa-chief-michael-whitaker-quit-on-jan-20-after-elon-musk-told-him-to-resign/

https://www.snopes.com/news/2025/01/31/musk-faa-director/

https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-freeze-hiring-air-traffic-controllers-washington-crash-2023348 (freezing of depts and hiring)

https://x.com/AP/status/1885068582305845543 (staffing not normal, 1 controller running 2 positions)

https://x.com/Shayan86/status/1885349956015321464 (Jo Ellis, not the pilot, because she's trans)

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwyeg61pnl5o (disability hires)

Other Resources:

https://youtu.be/UHU989JOyuk?si=Pio6T_Bk1au0dDjY

https://youtu.be/maJuj9ubpf4?si=qzpnHfi9dtqX5hhl

https://youtu.be/o3e8aNyp73Y?si=EOMvgJI3PF5pjvOq

https://youtu.be/b0UcrqLCAC4?si=cQWFW0RL_3ws-rof

https://youtu.be/BZjRrpuZDAI?si=khbap4Szch-YpxSC

https://youtu.be/AwM7fmm_owg?si=ReKZiNAmvtVjbWTb

https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/14/business/faa-short-on-air-traffic-controllers/index.html (faa still short 300o people)

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2025/01/30/airspace-safety-at-reagan-washington-airport-long-been-a-concern/78039475007/ (Reagan airport due to elected people wanting direct flights)

https://www.wvtm13.com/article/dc-plane-helicopter-crash-victims/63623529 (victims)

https://www.faa.gov/newsroom/faqs-midair-collision-reagan-washington-national-airport

https://www.flyingmag.com/news/atc-communications-between-jet-army-black-hawk-face-scrutiny-in-d-c-midair/

https://www.usatoday.com/story/graphics/2025/01/30/dc-plane-crash-video-flight-path-helicopter/78049992007/

https://www.npr.org/2025/01/30/nx-s1-5281166/dca-crash-helicopter-air-traffic-controller-radio

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The claim:

https://www.newsweek.com/charlie-kirk-black-pilots-racism-accusations-1863546

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/jesse-watters-uses-photo-of-female-la-firefighters-to-make-bizarre-criticism-about-fire-department-sure-hope-they-know-what-they-re-doing/ar-BB1ravxS

https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/ending-radical-and-wasteful-government-dei-programs-and-preferencing/

Debunk:

https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/applying/articles/how-does-affirmative-action-affect-college-admissions

https://hr.uoregon.edu/affirmative-action-myths-and-realities

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c78wn5qg3nyo

https://www.axios.com/2025/01/23/trump-dei-snitches-government

https://abcnews.go.com/US/dei-programs/story?id=97004455

Other resources:

https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/13th-amendment

https://a816-dohbesp.nyc.gov/IndicatorPublic/data-stories/redlining/j

https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/japanese-american-incarceration

https://time.com/7209960/companies-rolling-back-dei/

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Post uploaded edit: I found the Harris clip showing she didn't make the same salute as Musk did and as the screen cap suggests: https://x.com/tify330/status/1881512417387040998

Another user found even more clips disproving that other democrats did this: https://x.com/ExposingNV/status/1881647306724049116

Claims:

https://x.com/AdamNutter/status/1881505279139057724

https://x.com/AstorAaron/status/1881467415646920733

https://x.com/delinthecity_/status/1881468832411521194

Debunk:

https://x.com/KahliefAdams/status/1881432971976339916

The N*zis think it's a N*zi salute: https://x.com/TheRoyalSerf/status/1881445349690392704

https://www.fox10tv.com/video/2025/01/20/elon-musk-appears-give-nazi-style-salute-capital-one-arena-rally/

News being coy:

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/20/us/politics/elon-musk-hand-gesture-speech.html

https://www.live5news.com/2025/01/20/elon-musk-appears-give-awkward-salute-during-speech-after-inauguration-twice/

Things that got less coverage because of it:

https://apnews.com/article/trump-paris-agreement-climate-change-788907bb89fe307a964be757313cdfb0

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-pardons-nearly-all-jan-6-defendants-inauguration-day

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c391j738rm3o

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Claims:

https://x.com/skylikeajedi/status/1877168548637712464 (dei firefighters)

https://x.com/UniquelyDone247/status/1756789608614940781 (trees didn't burn)

https://x.com/Milennial_con/status/1877057645384769923 (17 million budget cut)

https://x.com/ZavalaA/status/1877058654001566079 (water restoration declaration)

https://img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/BB1r9Kcq.img?w=1920&h=1080&q=60&m=2&f=jpg (fish)

Debunks:

DEI Firefighters:https://www.npr.org/2025/01/10/nx-s1-5252757/california-wildfires-dei-diversity-influencers-firefighters

https://www.flickr.com/photos/lafd/25056861492 (8 year old picture from flickr, found via google image search, exact matches)

Trees didn't burn: https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/los-angeles-wildfire-trees-1.7428870

Budget cuts: https://www.newsweek.com/fact-check-did-los-angeles-cut-fire-department-funding-2011568 increased by a total of 50 m, budget for 2023-2024 was over 800m

budget actually almost doubled under Newsom https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/did-california-cut-100-million-083924312.html?guccounter=1 from 2.525 billion in 2018-19 budget to 4.249 billion in 2024-25 budget

Helicopter help was limited due to high winds: https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/fire-fighting-planes-grounded-due-to-wind-gusts/3603767/

Fire hydrants ran dry: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/los-angeles-wildfires-water-scarcity

-water pressure goes down as more hydrants are used (4x normal demand)

A majority of leadership at calfire is still men https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/los-angeles-wildfires-water-scarcity, 11 men, 10 women

Full employee lists, lots of men https://cdnverify.osfm.fire.ca.gov/media/4nxn30qw/fdidmstr1.pdf

Power was also shut off by power companies instead of those companies having better procedures https://www.foxnews.com/politics/biden-claim-about-empty-hydrants-undermined-la-water-utilitys-lack-common-wildfire-safety-protocolt

Water restoration declaration doesn't exist https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/09/politics/fact-check-trump-california-wildfires-fema/index.html

Fish protection https://www.vox.com/down-to-earth/394283/los-angeles-wildfires-trump-newsom-delta-smelt

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/conservatives-play-blame-game-california-wildfires-pointing-fingers-de-rcna186983

Republicans for fire: https://meidasnews.com/news/republicans-who-voted-against-wildfire-prevention-tweeted-about-the-la-fires

Other creators:

https://youtu.be/IRVp1uqXRE0?si=ev6G07xJSuEPGf41

https://youtu.be/7USejIf-4SM?si=um1yssage69FhJQe

https://youtu.be/aL4NB4HCyb4?si=H0jDI3zEnoarBOZR

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Other Creators covering this:

https://youtu.be/hbwREpD__f8?si=IoyFO4m_vGtfY-Wd

https://youtu.be/-YU7rv7aKrw?si=Qo5K9YrHGfL0AFk7

The Claim:

https://x.com/RepMTG/status/1874478242624680112

https://x.com/Johnnypatriot64/status/1874547583995216214

Debunk:

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/trump-republicans-new-orleans-attack-border-1235223376/

https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-falsely-pushes-anti-immigrant-151017489.html

https://apnews.com/article/cybertruck-explosion-trump-hotel-las-vegas-6c85af85255753db497f2cd344fb2ace

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/man-killed-in-cybertruck-explosion-was-active-duty-u-s-army-soldier-officials-say

Resources:

https://nij.ojp.gov/topics/articles/undocumented-immigrant-offending-rate-lower-us-born-citizen-rate

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/new-orleans-truck-attack-motive-possible-accomplices/

https://www.thedailybeast.com/las-vegas-cybertruck-bomber-matthew-livelsberger-was-a-trump-supporter-source/

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/soldier-who-died-in-cybertruck-explosion-left-note-saying-it-was-a-wakeup-call-for-countrys-ills

https://www.yahoo.com/news/driver-tesla-cybertruck-exploded-us-171956920.html

https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/cybertruck-explosion-suspect-matthew-livelsberger-vegas-b2672940.html

https://www.gao.gov/blog/rising-threat-domestic-terrorism-u.s.-and-federal-efforts-combat-it

https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2020/10/27/in-america-far-right-terrorist-plots-have-outnumbered-far-left-ones-in-2020

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The claim:

https://x.com/FiorellaIsabelM/status/1586749841471938568

https://x.com/JWalters314/status/1589487259002494976 (original tweet deleted)

The debunk:

https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/30/business/musk-tweet-pelosi-conspiracy/index.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/30/business/musk-tweets-hillary-clinton-pelosi-husband.html

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/paul-pelosi-gay-prostitute/

https://apnews.com/article/arrests-california-san-francisco-1582f7f07e277d65ce445c39de9a8bca

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ms-7NCI7Ag

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/paul-pelosi-attack-break-in-caught-on-security-camera/

https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/david-depape-man-convicted-paul-pelosi-attack-sentencing-hearing-reopened-court-error/

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/man-charged-assault-and-attempted-kidnapping-following-breaking-and-entering-pelosi-residence

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/david-depape-sentenced-after-conviction-assault-and-attempted-kidnapping-charges

https://www.newsweek.com/david-depape-paul-pelosi-attacker-sentenced-1976888

Other resources:

https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/3712538-donald-trump-jr-mocks-paul-pelosi-attack/

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The claim: https://x.com/MushyStuff__/status/1867739714452893964

Sources:

https://www.mprnews.org/story/2024/12/22/ex-openai-engineer-raised-legal-concerns-technology-helped-build-has-died

https://www.oregonlive.com/business/2024/12/more-details-released-about-death-of-ai-whistleblower-age-26.html

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cd0el3r2nlko

https://copyrightblog.kluweriplaw.com/2024/02/29/is-generative-ai-fair-use-of-copyright-works-nyt-v-openai/

Resources:

https://ogc.harvard.edu/pages/copyright-and-fair-use

https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/fair-use-the-four-factors.html

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The Claims:

https://x.com/Congressman_JVD/status/1867263560713150648

https://x.com/0xB4K3D/status/1868406785897574456

The debunk:

https://www.fox29.com/news/drone-mothership-claim-new-info-about-irans-drone-activity

https://nypost.com/2024/12/13/world-news/irans-new-massive-drone-ship-left-home-port-last-month-and-went-weeks-without-being-spotted/

https://thehill.com/policy/defense/5038942-iran-persian-gulf-drone-ship/

https://www.cnn.com/2024/12/15/us/drone-sightings-east-coast/index.html

https://www.pnnl.gov/news-media/drones-fly-low-and-slow-radiation-detection

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/no-iranian-drone-mothership-off-united-states-launching-drones-pentagon-says-2024-12-11/

Other resources:

https://www.history.com/news/world-war-iis-bizarre-battle-of-los-angeles

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/flightradar24-flight-tracker/id382233851

http://www.hisutton.com/Iran-Navy-IRGC-Forward-Base-Ships.html

https://en.defence-ua.com/news/iran_completes_building_its_first_drone_carrier_called_shahid_bagheri-11610.html

https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/iran/irgcn-shahid-bagheri-design.htm

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/video-shows-florida-deputy-repeatedly-shoot-man-thinking-falling-acorn-rcna138829

https://youtu.be/8MtUgmRbr1I?si=Ia-CTQdpq_MAjhHv

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The claim: https://abcnews4.com/news/local/if-anything-happens-its-not-suicide-boeing-whistleblowers-prediction-before-death-south-carolina-abc-news-4-2024

https://www.newsweek.com/john-barnett-boeing-whistleblower-predicted-death-scandal-1879548

The debunk:

https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/17/business/boeing-whistleblower-suicide-police-investigation/index.html

https://www.seattletimes.com/business/whistleblower-josh-dean-of-boeing-supplier-spirit-aerosystems-has-died/

https://static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2024/05/Barnett-John-Report.pdf

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Useful links:

https://www.biography.com/crime/a44079809/jeffrey-epsteins-death-timeline-of-events

https://apnews.com/article/epstein-maxwell-timeline-b9f15710fabb72e8581c71e94acf513e

https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/19/us/jeffrey-epstein-death-timeline/index.html

https://www.ojp.gov/sites/g/files/xyckuh241/files/archives/pressreleases/2021/nearly-fifth-state-and-federal-prisons-had-least-one-suicide-2019

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