No, 'Morning Joe' host Mika Brzezinski wasn't talking about Elon Musk in 2017 video | Fact check

Gabrielle Settles, USA TODAY

The claim: Mika Brzezinski said Elon Musk is ‘trying to control what people think’

A March 2 Instagram post (direct link, archive link) shows a clip of “Morning Joe” host Mika Brzezinski speaking during a segment of the MSNBC show while her co-host and husband Joe Scarborough and other panelists listen.

“He could have undermined the messaging so much that he can actually control exactly what people think, and that is – that is our job,” she says.

The text at the top of the video shows part of Brzezinski's quote and inserts Tesla CEO Elon Musk's first name, indicating she’s talking about him.

The post was liked over 78,000 times in more than a month.

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Our rating: False

Brzezinski's comments were made in 2017 and were in reference to then-President Donald Trump, not Musk. She said later that day that her comments about controlling what people think had been misconstrued.

'Morning Joe' 2017 roundtable was discussing Trump approval rating

The clip featured in the post comes from a February 2017 episode of "Morning Joe" in which Brzezinski and Scarborough hosted a roundtable discussion on Trump’s approval rating and how Americans felt about the federal government based on a poll at that time. Musk is not mentioned in the discussion.

Brzezinski's comments came after Scarborough and a panelist discussed how Trump supporters believed then-president Trump was fulfilling the promises he campaigned on.

"Well, I think that the dangerous, you know, edges here are that he is trying to undermine the media and trying to make up his own facts," said Brzezinski. "And it could be that while unemployment and the economy worsens, he could have undermined the messaging so much that he can actually control exactly what people think. And that, that is our job."

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Her comments drew criticism, and she wrote later that day on Twitter (now known as X) that her statement was misinterpreted.

“Today I said it’s the media’s job to keep President Trump from making up his own facts, NOT that it’s our job to control what people think,” she wrote.

She followed up in an additional post, writing, “Of course, that is obvious from the transcript but some people want to make up their own facts. SAD!”

USA TODAY reached out to the user who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Mika Brzezinski talking Trump not Elon Musk in 2017 clip | Fact check

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