Earlier this week, Elon Musk appeared at the Oval Office with President Donald Trump; Musk’s son, X Æ A-Xii, even made an appearance. Citing a desire for “maximum transparency,” the tech billionaire discussed the efforts of his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to identify and eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse within the federal government.
Here was how The New York Times described the press conference: “In Oval Office, Musk Says Without Proof That Bureaucracy Is Rife With Fraud.”
Later, the newspaper tweaked the headline to read: “At Oval Office, Musk Makes Broad Claims of Federal Fraud Without Proof.”
To be maximally charitable to the Times, they did not actually state that claims of federal fraud are baseless, just that Musk failed to proffer examples. Musk did cite examples of government processes clearly in need of updating, including the infamous, inefficient limestone mine where government employee papers are kept—something that sounds completely ridiculous but actually exists.
Hellbound and Down 