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| - In February 2025, a screenshot circulated online of what appeared to be a post by tech mogul Elon Musk writing about his fellow billionaires' feelings about contributing to public services. People claimed he wrote:
Here's the hard truth: this country's billionaires are tired of subsidizing everyone else's schools, parks, health care, even food and entertainment. You want nature? Buy some land. Health care? Befriend a doctor. Entertainment? Roll around in the mud with your fellow pigs
The claim spread across multiple platforms, including Reddit, Facebook, X and Threads. We also received dozens of reader questions regarding the authenticity of the quote.
However, the post was not real; Musk never posted those words on X. The post was not on Musk's X timeline and no major media outlets reported on such a quote. A quick Google search of the quote did not yield any reliable results.
Rather, the fake post originated as satire and was designed to look like an authentic post by Musk. The alleged screenshot (archived) first appeared on the subreddit r/ToiletPaperUSA on Feb. 15, 2025. It received more than 6,200 upvotes, as of this writing.
The post displayed a "fake news" tag, and the subreddit's bio says its posts are satirical in nature:
**Official Subreddit of TPUSA.** All posts in this subreddit should be considered ironic/parodic/satirical unless they are flaired as \*REAL\* *and* have a relevant, trustworthy source in the comments (which should be your standard for all internet content anyway).
Snopes has addressed similar satirical claims about Musk's X posts in the past, including the assertion that he said "MAGA" would "succeed in all the ways Nazi Germany failed to" and a rumor that he said people protesting Trump should go to prison.
For background, here is why we alert readers to rumors created by sources that call their output humorous or satirical.
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