BarcelonaThe name of the thing matters, and it doesn’t matter. Elon Musk wanted to make it clear that his meeting with Trump was not a interview but one conversation. That is to say, he admitted from the start that he was abdicating the responsibility of having to contain the torrent of lies that he might pour out to his interlocutor. And by God’s word, he poured out quite a few, such as when he denied that climate change was a threat and recalled that, if the sea level rises, it will be an opportunity to build on the coastline. While the Republican candidate was releasing them from the height of a bell tower, Musk was becoming a disturbingly servile accomplice.
The conversational format may have advantages, because it breaks formality and can bring out a more authentic portrait of a person, beyond his studied public facade. But to conduct it well, professionalism and honesty are also necessary, which are not among Musk’s many virtues. As the businessman did, it was a rather desperate attempt to restore relevance to a social network that he himself has so stubbornly devalued. What we saw was nothing more than the umpteenth reiteration of the formula “Today Santiago Abascal has come to have fun at ‘El Hormiguero’”. Obviously, the whitewashing of hate politics by humanising its promoters is not Pablo Motos’ invention, but in Spain few people have practised this subgenre with such ease. The owner of X can sell all the falornias he wants and wrap himself up spuriously in the flag of freedom of expression, but his entire discourse melts like butter under the August sun if it is not accompanied by a sense of responsibility so that the public receives quality information and not poisons that also destroy the social fabric.
