Fox News Rallies to Elon Musk’s Defense Amid Sexual Misconduct Allegations

Several Fox News hosts and commentators waved off the sexual misconduct allegations against Elon Musk on Friday, agreeing with the trollish billionaire that the timing of the story was “curious” and politically motivated.

Insider reported on Thursday evening that Musk paid a SpaceX flight attendant a $250,000 settlement after she accused him of exposing himself and propositioning her for sex during a massage on a flight. A declaration from the flight attendant’s friend also stated that the world’s richest man “touched her and offered to buy her a horse if she would ‘do more,’ referring to the performance of sex acts.”

Musk has denied the claim, saying that there’s “a lot more to this story” while complaining that this is a “politically motivated hit piece.” It also appears that Musk attempted to get ahead of the publication of the story, taking to Twitter to grouse that “political attacks on me will escalate in coming months” and that Democrats will launch a “dirty tricks” campaign against him just hours after Insider first reached out for comment on its report.

Musk, of course, has quickly become a cult-like figure among conservatives since he announced he was acquiring social media giant Twitter. And while it appears on the surface that he’s trying to weasel out of his Twitter deal, right-wing media continues to have his back—especially since he announced he’ll now vote Republican while lashing out against the “woke mind virus.”

During Friday’s broadcast of Fox News midday panel show Outnumbered, the five panelists took turns siding with the Tesla founder’s claims that the “wild accusations are utterly insane” while rallying to his defense.

Guest co-host Michele Tafoya, who recently left NBC Sports so she could jump into conservative politics, wondered aloud why we are “now all of a sudden” hearing about this woman’s allegation when the incident took place in 2016. (The flight attendant’s sexual misconduct claim was settled in 2018.)

“We are told we should believe all women,” she said. “I kind of believe that both the woman and the man in these situations should get equal hearing. That’s just me.”

Stating that the timing of the story makes her “curious about this,” Tafoya added that she’d love to hear both sides’ “full stories” before suggesting that Musk was the victim here.

“Boy, people say it’s dangerous to be a woman online on social media. It’s dangerous to be Elon Musk right now too,” the ex-NFL sideline reporter declared. “He is getting attacked from all angles. So I’m curious about the timing of this. I’m not saying she is right, I’m not saying she’s wrong. We need to listen. But it sure seems curious to me.”

Ex-Trump spokesperson turned Fox News host Kayleigh McEnany agreed that the “timing seems really interesting,” noting that Musk was just recently tweeting that he would vote Republican while criticizing Democrats. “Boom! Now we get this,” she exclaimed. (Again, the timing of Musk’s recent “political attack” tweets suggest he was trying to preemptively push back on the Insider story.)

“It is so obvious almost makes you wonder, it makes you question the strategy because it is so obvious,” co-host Emily Compagno asserted. “Elon Musk himself said, ‘If I were inclined to engage in sexual harassment this is unlikely to be the first time in my entire 30-year career that it comes to light.’ That is why he said this is so obviously a politically motivated hit piece.”

While Compagno also stated that “everything is due analysis,” she went on to insist that “the optics alone make it suspect.” Jimmy Failla, the female-centric show’s lone male panelist, concurred with the rest of the crew.

“The timing of this reminds me a lot of when Joe Rogan was in the crosshairs of the far-left attack machine,” he proclaimed, adding that Musk was once the “patron saint of the left.”

“But what I love so much is that Elon Musk said what? The left is the party of division and hate and they responded with division and hate,” he continued. “This is like if you call me an alcoholic and I responded by chugging a keg of beer. It’s kind of a self-own.”

Finally, co-host Kennedy seemingly cast doubt on the allegations because they didn’t initially come out during a more “sympathetic” period of time.

“Do smart, rich men do stupid things? Yes,” she contended. “And that is why, if this story were true, I think the time to come out with it probably would’ve been at the height of the #MeToo era. I think there would have been a lot of people who would have been sympathetic listeners.”

Kennedy continued: “But considering the timing of this, and where we are politically, the entire country is skeptical of pretty much everything. Government, media, accusations, it doesn’t mean they are not true. But they don’t get the same sympathetic wash that they might have at the beginning, or the height of, the #MeToo era.”