Followers of Putin’s narratives: how Musk has sunk to level of Russian soldier
Over the past month, Ukrainians have witnessed just how cynical geopolitics can be and how easily black can be made to seem white. Donald Trump became the leader in distorting facts during his first term, but after he called Volodymyr Zelenskyy a dictator and Putin a victim, even the usually loyal New York Post issued an explanation of who the real dictator is.
And although we see support and sanity from most European leaders, we continue to face a constant challenge—fighting for the truth just as we fight for our land.
Right now, the Russian propaganda machine has worked exceptionally well—making key players in American politics mouthpieces for its narratives.
When Elon Musk issued his "brilliant" tweet claiming that USAID funded biological weapons labs, including COVID-19, I was sick to my stomach. When Robert Kennedy Jr., a candidate for U.S. Secretary of Health, stated that USAID had invested $5 billion in the Maidan to overthrow the Yanukovych government, I was completely appalled.
Because three years ago, I heard the exact same nonsense from drunken Russian soldiers who occupied our village in the Chernihiv region.
– Boys, what are you doing here?
– We have come to protect you.
– From whom?
– From the Nazis.
– There are no Nazis here—only pensioners and children.
– We see that, we won’t harm you. It’s just that your president has to surrender.
– Why? What has our president done to you?
– He is following the wrong policy, and it threatens Russia.
– I’m sorry, but it’s not me or our president standing here with a machine gun—it’s you....
– Because if we hadn’t come to Ukraine, you would have attacked us...
– Would it surprise you if I told you that no one was even thinking of attacking you?
– Well, if not you, then NATO.
– Do you see any NATO bases around here? You've advanced 120 kilometers deep into the country and haven't seen a single soldier—let alone a NATO base...
– You know, they set up biological weapons labs in your country and planned to infect us.
– Have you seen any laboratories here?
– They are in the east.
– You mean where you’re bombing Mariupol?
– We’re not bombing Mariupol, it’s your Azov.
– And what about the shelling we hear overhead right now—who’s firing?
– That’s Kyiv.
– Really? Because it sounds like it's coming from the other side, somewhere near Nizhyn—which is 40 kilometers away.
– Well... that's us.
The only way I could change anything in the minds of Russians was to confront them with the inexorable reality—one that is the same for both them and me.
But I have no idea how to deal with these oasis of delusion in Musk’s head. After all, he finds them perfectly comfortable, and he won’t even attempt to get to the bottom of the truth.
Remember, in 2023, Musk had already called Ukraine’s 2014 Maidan a coup d'état, and in early February, he doubled down on the nonsense, claiming that USAID spent millions of dollars to fly world celebrities to Ukraine during the war "to boost Zelenskyy's popularity among Americans."
Musk, of course, conveniently forgot that USAID paid millions of dollars to his own company for the Starlinks.
And although our Ministry of Foreign Affairs has refuted these claims, and people have even created a fair share of folklore about it, the threat of Musk spreading fake news and reshaping public perception has not diminished in the slightest.
For example, a report by the Center for Countering Digital Hate revealed that Musk's false claims about the U.S. election had been viewed over two billion times. As a result, in December 2023, the European Commission launched proceedings against Network X for systematically spreading fake news, aiming to protect EU citizens from misinformation.
And this is precisely the problem that led Ken Wilber to write his 2016 book, Trump and the Post-Truth Era, following Trump's victory.
To summarize the book, Trump is the pinnacle of the madness of the madness brought about by the philosophical doctrine that truth does not exist. He achieved total victory in a world where facts no longer matter—only belief does. (It’s worth noting here that Putin’s interview with Tucker Carlson is another textbook case of post-truth, where the Russian ruler presents his own version of history—one he sincerely believes. Sounds quite humane, if we don’t call it outright nonsense and a complete distortion of historical facts?)
In 2021, The Washington Post published an article estimating that over four years, Trump made a total of 30,573 false or misleading statements. Journalist Carl Bernstein, who played a crucial role in the Watergate scandal, wrote about Trump: "No former president, including Richard Nixon, has ever displayed such ignorance and disregard for facts as he has."
And despite the fact that many of Trump's voters knew he was lying, they still elected him.
According to Wilber, almost all of Trump's voters share a sense of resentment—cultural elites, whether represented by the government, prestigious universities, or wealthy neighborhoods on the Riviera, provoke irritation, anger, and outrage.
"Culture claimed that no person could be inherently superior to another, but in practice, reality proved otherwise—there was a gap in income, job opportunities, access to healthcare, and many other aspects of life. Culture preached one thing, but reality showed another. And if that same culture insists that truth does not exist, then there is no way to prove that it is lying," the author writes.
And so, in a nihilistic culture, where self-interest and narcissism became the highest values, the candidate who embodied them in their purest form emerged victorious.
81% of the outraged voted for Trump. Trump "struck an ethnocentric nerve, woven with racism, chauvinism, patriarchy, and misogyny."
But if Trump's first victory seemed like a mistake or a step backward, it has now undoubtedly become an approved tradition.
And despite the fact that some still hope for Trump's rationality, his business acumen, the reality is that he will be driven solely by his own sense of personal truth and justice.
If the regression continues, then, as Wilber rightly wrote, we will move from the slogan "Save the country, family, and religion" to "Save yourself if you can!"—where primitive egocentrism and narcissism dictate the course of events. (And narcissism is especially dangerous because it erodes all social ties. A true narcissist wouldn’t even fit into a street gang.)
Yesterday, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock warned against equating the victim with the perpetrator, as this would lead to the final collapse of the rules-based international order and the global security system that protects most nations. It would also jeopardize the future of the United States, as few would be willing to place their trust in the world's oldest democracy and largest military power, the minister said.
Nevertheless, we clearly face the challenge that our truth, our values, and our very lives may be bartered away and trampled upon to accommodate narcissistic whims and a selective interpretation of facts tailored to justify personal failures.
Soon, Lex Fridman will travel to Russia and return with yet another dose of historical delusion and alternative interpretations of facts from Putin—ones that will perfectly suit the Russian dictator. And now, even artificial intelligence will be deployed to translate it for the world.
Against this backdrop, we need Lady Gaga and Taylor Swift on our side at the very least—and they should also have the time and motivation to remind Elon Musk who he really is, just as Jennifer Aniston once publicly smeared JD Vance for his attack on childless women.
We desperately need voices who can effectively convey to the American farmer that Ukraine does not owe them $500 billion and that we did not destroy Mariupol or "bomb Donbas." Because Musk never even considered retracting his lies.
Tetiana Nikolaienko, Censor.NET
