On Wednesday, Tesla CEO Elon Musk urged governors across the nation to start opening up the economy to “free America now.”
In a series of recent tweets, Musk appeared to question the effectiveness of lockdowns, applauded Republican Governor Greg Abbott of Texas for announcing a large economic re-opening come Friday, and bluntly stated in all caps: “FREE AMERICA NOW.”
“Give people their freedom back!” Musk captioned a Wall Street Journal op-ed titled, “Do Lockdowns Save Many Lives? In Most Places, the Data Say No.” The piece argued, “The speed with which officials shuttered the economy appears not to be a factor in Covid deaths.”
Give people their freedom back! https://t.co/iG8OYGaVZ0
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 29, 2020
“Bravo Texas!” the 48-year-old captioned a post from the Texas Tribune, titled, “Texas restaurants, retailers and other businesses can reopen Friday. Here’s the rules they have to follow.”
Bravo Texas! https://t.co/cVkDewRqGv
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 29, 2020
The CEO’s latest tweet shouts: “FREE AMERICA NOW”
FREE AMERICA NOW
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 29, 2020
Musk has been questioning lockdown logic since early April. Last week, the Tesla founder posted a USA Today fact check confirming hospitals get paid more money for COVID-19-coded patients.
“Interesting …,” Musk captioned the post.
Interesting … https://t.co/z8sqqPt48q
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 26, 2020
On the same day, Musk posted a YouTube video of two emergency room doctors from California calling for a re-opening and highlighting the negative impacts of lockdown.
“Docs make good points,” the CEO captioned the video.
Docs make good points https://t.co/WeXuZpMghY
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 26, 2020
The video of the doctors has since been removed from the California ABC News affiliate’s page, citing a violation of “community guidelines” by YouTube.
Musk has personally helped in the COVID-19 response, delivering ventilators to California hospitals as promised.
The CEO, however, battled with CNN earlier this month over a report that claimed Musk has not made good on the ventilators.
“CNN quoted the California governor’s office, which said it had not heard of any hospital system in the state receiving any of the promised ventilators,” The Daily Wire reported at the time. “Three weeks after Tesla CEO Elon Musk said he had obtained more than 1,000 ventilators to help California hospitals treating patients infected with the coronavirus, the governor’s office says none of the promised ventilators have been received by hospitals,” CNN’s verified Twitter account tweeted.
“What I find most surprising is that CNN still exists,” Musk shot back, adding a “Partial list of hospitals to which Tesla sent ventilators.”
Partial list of hospitals to which Tesla sent ventilators pic.twitter.com/sfI6yuUbrM
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 16, 2020
“These were based on direct requests from their ICU wards, with exact specifications of each unit provided before shipment,” Musk said via Twitter.
The CEO also posted a string of emails from March that appeared to show a Los Angeles County Department of Health Services official sending thanks after receiving the ventilators, The Daily Wire highlighted. “They worked great during testing today,” wrote Phillip Franks, Director of System Operations and Support Services at the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services, one of the emails says. “We will put these to use tomorrow. Thanks!”
Related: Elon Musk: ‘What I Find Most Surprising Is That CNN Still Exists‘
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