Musk's AI Chatbot Grok Tells X User That Trump's New Obama Probe Is Baseless Attempt to 'Distract from Epstein File Scrutiny'
Story by Rachel Raposas
• 6h
As Trump faces increasing pressure to publicize evidence in Jeffrey Epstein's child sex trafficking case, the administration has been looking for ways to change the conversation
Elon Musk's AI chatbot, Grok, has denounced Donald Trump's new allegations against Barack Obama as an "unsubstantiated" deflection.
Amid increasing pressure on the Trump administration to release all files related to Jeffrey Epstein's child sex trafficking case, the president and his national intelligence director, Tulsi Gabbard, have focused their attention on accusing Obama of conspiring against him in 2016, according to a report Gabbard released on Friday, July 18.
The next day, after a user on X asked Grok if the report was based in fact, or if the Trump administration is "just trying to distract from Jeffrey Epstein," the chatbot replied that none of the claims against Obama appeared to have merit.
"No credible evidence exists that Barack Obama committed any crimes; allegations of a 'treasonous conspiracy' in 2016 are unsubstantiated and refuted by bipartisan reports confirming Russian interference," Grok wrote in a reply. "Gabbard's claims appear politically motivated to distract from Epstein file scrutiny."
Grok is an AI addition to the social media platform that Musk — who recently had a public falling-out with Trump — bought in 2022. The Trump administration recently closed a $200 million deal with Musk's AI company to incorporate Grok into the Pentagon's workflow, but that hasn't stopped the chatbot from criticizing the president.
Musk himself has rattled off several X posts about Trump's handling of the Epstein files in recent days. The Tesla and SpaceX CEO has accused the administration of a "cover up" by failing to turn over all the Epstein evidence and he has questioned why Ghislaine Maxwell would be in prison for aiding Epstein's child sexual abuse if the Epstein crimes were a " hoax."
In one post, Musk reminded his followers of Trump's strategy with past controversies, writing, "1. Admit nothing; 2. Deny everything; 3. Make counterclaims." He then added, "But it won’t work this time."
On Tuesday, July 22, Obama spokesperson Patrick Rodenbush released a fiery statement regarding the Trump administration's repeated allegations against the 44th president.
"Out of respect for the office of the presidency, our office does not normally dignify the constant nonsense and misinformation flowing out of this White House with a response," the statement began. "But these claims are outrageous enough to merit one. These bizarre allegations are ridiculous and a weak attempt at distraction."
Rodenbush's statement continued: "Nothing in the document issued last week undercuts the widely accepted conclusion that Russia worked to influence the 2016 presidential election but did not successfully manipulate any votes. These findings were affirmed in a 2020 report by the bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee, led by then-Chairman Marco Rubio."
In the Friday report, Gabbard claimed Obama and his administration "manufactured and politicized intelligence to lay the groundwork for what was essentially a years-long coup against President Trump."
The report alleged that Obama gave false statements to media outlets, which stated that Russia had interfered in the 2016 election. In 2016, Trump ultimately won over his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton.
Trump further called Obama's actions "treason" in a trailing Oval Office rant on Tuesday, saying, "They tried to steal the election. They tried to obfuscate the election."
While Obama has never faced criminal charges for election interference, Trump was hit with several felony charges between two separate cases related to election subversion: the first involving his alleged role in instigating the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot, and the second regarding his alleged attempts to overturn Georgia's 2020 election results.
The cases were dropped once Trump was elected for a second term as president in November 2024.
Read the original article on People |
