Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk accused a senior NATO officer of Orwellian tendencies in a post on X Wednesday, a day after Donald Trump named the world's richest man to a top government post.
"Make Orwell Fiction Again! Guys like this think 1984 is an instruction manual," Musk wrote in response to a clip of Admiral Rob Bauer -- the chair of NATO's military committee -- speaking at a think tank event.
In remarks at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, Bauer warned of "disinformation and cyber attacks and all the things that are happening influencing elections," saying that the use of social media is "basically amplifying everything that is being done by bot factories."
"I'm very much in favor of freedom of speech, but I'm not necessarily convinced that what... Mr Musk is doing on X is the right approach," the admiral said.
The day before Musk made the comment about Bauer, Trump announced that he would lead a new US government efficiency group tasked with cutting federal waste -- a potentially powerful position in the administration.
Trump said Musk and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy "will pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies."
Musk became a key ally to Trump during his campaign, reportedly spending over $100 million to help the Republican win and repeatedly boosting Trump's candidacy on X, the platform he owns.
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