Grok, billionaire Elon Musk's very own chatbot, threw Republicans under the bus after software engineer Alex Coke asked it if Democrats or Republicans have been better for the economy in the past 30 years, only for it to answer that yes, in fact, Democrats are the winners when it comes to economic policy.
Economic policy is certainly on everyone's minds these days. A new CNN poll conducted by SSRS shows that Americans are not pleased with President Donald Trump’s management of the economy, leaving him with unfavorable ratings on what is considered the nation’s most important issue.
As financial markets decline and investor concerns grow over Trump’s trade policies, 56% of the public disapproves of his economic performance — the highest disapproval rate he has faced on this issue during his first term.
With this in mind, Cole took to X to ask Grok the following question:
"Hey [Grok], Who was better for the economy in the last 30 years, Republicans or Democrats?"
You can see his post below.
Not long afterward, Grok responded with the following message:
"Since WWII, Democrats have outperformed Republicans on the economy. GDP growth averages 4.23% under Dems vs. 2.36% under GOP. Job creation? 1.7% yearly for Dems, 1.0% for Republicans. Also, 9 of the last 10 recessions started under Republican presidents. Data speaks louder than party lines."
You can see its response below.
Then Tennessee election commissioner Chris D. Jackson joined in on the fun, asking Grok the following question about whether Trump or former President Joe Biden was ultimately better at handling the economy:
"Hey [Grok], who was the better economic president in terms of jobs, gdp, unemployment and stock market: Biden or Trump?"
You can see his post below.
Grok answered:
"Biden added 15.7M jobs, with unemployment dropping to 3.4%—a 53-year low. Trump lost 3M jobs by the end, even pre-COVID job growth was slower. GDP growth was close: 2.6% under Trump (2017-2019), 2.3% under Biden (since 2022)."
"Stock market? S&P gained 11% under Biden, but Trump’s era had a bigger Wall Street euphoria. Unemployment spiked to 14.7% in 2020 under Trump—highest ever. Data’s clear, you decide."
You can see its response below.
People couldn't help but mock Musk in response.
Grok previously determined that Musk is a "significant spreader" of misinformation.
The truth-telling from Musk's own chatbot came after a report by the non-profit Center for Countering Digital Hate showed that Musk’s false or misleading statements about the presidential election have garnered 2 billion views on X this year.
In fact, election and misinformation experts added last week that the platform is playing a pivotal role in facilitating the spread of misinformation regarding key battleground states likely to influence the presidential race's outcome.
The AI, when prompted about Musk’s role, responded:
“Elon Musk has been involved in spreading misinformation on several occasions through his social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter), which he owns and where he has a significant following.”
It then detailed its response in five categories: election misinformation, general misinformation, “platform’s role,” public and legal scrutiny, and impact. It noted that Musk has promoted misleading claims about the U.S. election and “health issues like COVID-19,” and has overseen a shift from “traditional content moderation” to Community Notes, a feature “criticized for its effectiveness.”
It added:
“In summary, yes, Elon Musk has been identified as a significant spreader of misinformation, particularly noted for his impact on elections and broader societal issues, through his activities on X."
"However, it’s important to consider the context and the broader environment where misinformation thrives, including the algorithms of social media platforms that can amplify such content." ...
"The collective evidence from news analyses, research reports, and social media posts indicates that Elon Musk has indeed been a significant spreader of misinformation, impacting potentially billions of people through his platform and personal influence."
Awkward—for Musk, that is.
@EdwardLawrence/X
