On Saturday, February 21, the X account Thomas Sowell Quotes (@ThomasSowell) posted a video of platform owner Elon Musk speaking to former Fox News talking head Tucker Carlson. The post didn't include tags or hashtags.
The 43-second clip, from an over one hour interview, featured the pair laughing about the disparity between the prosecution of the violent insurrectionists who stormed the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021, versus Jeffrey Epstein's friends and clients who trafficked and sexually exploited young women and children.
Sowell Quotes captioned the video:
"Elon Musk: 'They put like five or six hundred January 6th protesters in prison and not one person on the Epstein's client list.'"
The interview from the short-lived show Tucker Carlson Network (TCN) on X was released on October 7, 2024, before Trump had been reelected.
One hour and 42 minutes after Sowell Quotes shared the clip, Musk quote posted it, lending credence to claims Musk data mines his own platform to find any mentions of his name to either stroke his ego or lash out at his critics. He wasn't tagged on the post.
The billionaire added the caption:
"Still true today"
You can see Musk's repost here:
Reactions to the post varied wildly with some agreeing with Musk and others accusing him of being part of an Epstein cover-up.
But most pointed fingers at MAGA Republican President Donald Trump or his administration—especially Attorney General Pam Bondi.
It's unclear what Musk's point was, beyond self-promotion, in resharing the 2024 interview.
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The Trump administration has taken great pains to try to deny the existence of and to distract voters from their many ties to registered sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Former Prince Andrew was arrested in the United Kingdom and several political figures resigned over ties to Epstein or his co-conspirator, Ghislaine Maxwell, but in the United States, only Epstein and Maxwell were arrested.
Epstein was indicted and arrested by Trump's Department of Justice in July 2019 and died in DOJ custody in August.
Maxwell was arrested in 2020 and convicted in 2021 of five felonies including sex trafficking of a minor, conspiracy to transport minors with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, and transportation of a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity. In June 2022, she was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Civil actions by survivors of Maxwell and Epstein's exploitation and abuse kept the evidence against them sealed until January of 2024.
In August 2025, Maxwell was moved, for an unknown reason, by the Trump administration to a minimum-security prison camp in Texas.
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