Elon Musk conceded on Tuesday that he was incorrect in claiming the U.S. planned to spend $50 million on condoms for Gaza. The admission came after a reporter confronted him about the misleading statement, which he had previously shared on X.
During a Q&A session in the Oval Office, a reporter pressed Musk on the claim, pointing out that the actual U.S. program in question involved distributing condoms in Mozambique as part of an HIV prevention initiativeโnot sending them to Gaza or Hamas.
Musk responded:
“Well, first of all, some of the things that I say will be incorrect and should be corrected. So nobodyโs going to bat a thousand. I mean, we will make mistakes, but weโll act quickly to correct any mistakes.”
Despite acknowledging the error, Musk still questioned the spending:
“Iโm not sure we should be sending $50 million worth of condoms to anywhere, frankly. Thatโs really an enormous number of condoms if you think about it. But, you know, if it went to Mozambique instead of Gaza, Iโm like, okay, thatโs not as bad. But still, why are we doing that?”
Fact-Checkers Call Out Muskโs Numbers
While the U.S. has funded condom distribution abroad, fact-checkers have cast doubt on Muskโs $50 million figure. According to USA Today, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) spent $61 million in 2023 on contraceptives for multiple countries, but only $8 million of that went toward condoms.
From 2016 to 2022, USAID allocated $118 million to condoms across 60 countriesโan average of $17 million per yearโmaking it highly unlikely that $50 million was spent on condoms anywhere, let alone in Gaza.
Muskโs admission that he sometimes gets things wrong is rare, but it doesn’t change the fact that his misleading claims often spread like wildfire before fact-checks can catch up.
