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Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, has vast resources at his disposal to help those struggling around the world. So when Musk saw the good people of Los Angeles enduring wildfires that destroyed thousands of homes and killed at least 24 people, he took action. Well, he did the billionaire oligarch’s version of taking action.
Musk sent eight Cybertrucks to local police stations along with red grapes, bottled water and oranges. Cybertrucks has incorporated Starlink internet to provide some services to people in nearby area. The billionaire shared a video on X about how he allegedly saved “thousands of lives” from wildfires. Seriously.
“Apologies to those waiting for Cybertruck deliveries in California over the next few days,” Musk tweeted on Sunday. “We need to use these trucks as mobile base stations to power Starlink Internet terminals in unconnected areas of LA. A new truck will be delivered at the end of the week.”
Tesla presented its inventory Cybertrucks in X, three at the sheriff’s departments in Altadena, two in Pasadena, and three in Zuma Beach and Malibu. These Cybertrucks may not be very useful to the wider population, as they contain a handful of groceries sitting in police station parking lots. But Tesla provides power in some locations through its portable Megapack energy storage system.
Musk retweeted people praising his amazing generosity over the weekend, including an account called @DesireeAmerica4. “Say what you want about the guy, but who else acts like that when it matters?” account he asked.
The video itself even says that Musk “saved thousands of lives” with his actions. It appears to include AI-generated voiceover with b-roll of Musk posing in front of burning buildings. It’s pretty gross to watch, even if it’s not about a tragedy that kills dozens of people.
The danger is far from over as winds have picked up again and the Palisades Fire is only 14% contained with 23,713 acres burned. See Duty. The Eaton fire is burning at 14,117 acres with only 33% containment.
Elon Musk went big time by donating Starlink to help Los Angeles firefighters and people stay connected during the chaos. Say what you will about the guy, but who else acts like that when it counts? pic.twitter.com/TlKozxKVjs
— Desiree (@DesireeAmerica4) January 12, 2025
“Elon Musk made a shocking decision after the wildfires in Los Angeles,” said the video’s supposed robot narrator.
“Traditional communication towers in Los Angeles, which have saved thousands of lives, have already been reduced to ashes in the fire, and the disaster zone has lost all signals,” the narrator continues nonsensically. “But people were still able to watch the fire live. It was all because, at this critical moment, Musk generously donated Starlink terminals to Los Angeles and restored communications.”
The video has more than 1.5 million views as of this writing, likely thanks to Musk retweeting it. Although the account has a blue sign that anyone can buy for $8, it’s not entirely clear who “Desiree” is.
Musk, who is currently worth $412 billion according to Forbes, has long announced his philanthropy during the crisis and has actually contributed very little. The most infamous time, perhaps, was when a children’s soccer team got stuck in a Thai cave in the summer of 2018. The event attracted international attention, so Musk naturally wanted to show some of that attention with his mini in Thailand. “-sub” design to save children. Not surprisingly, critics called Musk’s presence a publicity stunt.
When one expert criticized the mini-sub as not working, Musk called the boy a “pedo” and even hired a private investigator to ruin his reputation. The man sued for defamation, but lost after Musk insisted he didn’t mean “pedo” literally.
When people point out that Musk isn’t actually contributing much to these rescue efforts and is instead using them for his own publicity purposes, the billionaire’s defenders inevitably ask, “What are you helping?” they will ask the question. because they cannot understand how anything works. Musk benefits greatly from these relatively inexpensive stunts. While it’s nice of Musk to give some cops a few groceries and internet access, it’s a pretty pathetic endeavor in the grand scheme of things.
Take a title for example WGN9 Monday: “Elon Musk donates Cybertrucks to provide power and internet to LA community amid wildfire devastation.” If the average person on the street temporarily drives their car to a parking lot for a few days to give them some limited internet and a few bananas, would anyone characterize that as “donating” a car? Of course not. But Musk gets that kind of generous coverage, even though he’ll take those Cybertrucks and sell them to any dude having a midlife crisis.
As much as Musk laments the mainstream media’s bias against him, he knows how to work the media ecosystem. And the billionaire is about to use this knowledge to his advantage and using new scary methods as a senior adviser to the incoming Trump administration. The New York Times Over the weekend, there were new reports on how DOGE will be used when Trump takes office on January 20. about how public money is spent while almost enriching themselves.
Musk has criticized California’s fire management strategy, even visiting the state over the weekend for a live broadcast with a member of the LA Fire Department to find fault with local leaders. Musk was very transparently trying to get an answer that confirmed his preconceptions about why there are fire hydrants runs dryrescue teams encountered a very real problem.
“Was there water? I understand this was not a problem in the Malibu, is that correct? Musk said during the live broadcast.
“There was water, we have reservoirs,” the unidentified firefighter replied.
The firefighter then explained that water supplies are simply depleted by historic fires. And when tens of thousands of acres are burning in such horrendously dry and windy conditions, there’s not much you can do to produce enough water.
“The amount of water we’re running, there’s really no water system that can keep up at that rate. So we have to bring in water tenders, which are big water tanks, you know, 2,500 to 3,000 gallon trucks and they’re going to come in and we have to do that to compensate,” the firefighter continued.
Not satisfied with the answer, Musk stammered, “My understanding is… correct me if I’m wrong, along the coast… there was no shortage of water along the coast in Malibu. At one point in the Palisades, there was a water shortage. Or is it not accurate?”
The fireman calmly explained, “we were running more water than the system could handle. It was overwhelming for how much water the firefighters were using.
“Okay,” Musk said in defeat, “sounds good.”
California Governor Gavin Newsom shared video clip Of Musk’s encounter on Sunday, the billionaire was “exposed by the firemen for his lies,” he said.
.@ElonMusk was exposed by the firemen for his lies. pic.twitter.com/3Q8xFZaQ3S
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) January 13, 2025
No, Musk didn’t save thousands of lives as wildfires continue to rage in LA. But he will undoubtedly continue to spread misinformation that seeks to serve the MAGA agenda. And it will almost certainly get worse after January 20th.
