Argentine President Javier Milei claimed on Thursday night that Tesla and X owner Elon Musk had bought cable TV and online media outlet CNN. Milei made the comments three weeks after a spoof article about Musk possibly acquiring the network was published on a satire site.

Speaking at the 100th anniversary of the Argentine Chamber of Commerce and Services in Buenos Aires, Milei called the network a “filthy woke stronghold.” He expressed hope that, under the helm of the billionaire tech entrepreneur, it would begin to say “nicer things” about United States President-elect Donald Trump.

“Not only do we have freedom on X, but now we will also have a network that is not so socialist and lefty,” Milei said.

On Friday, Nacho Girón, radio host of CNN in Argentina, said on air that Milei’s claim was fake. “Javier Milei said, with words that were really very critical, that Elon Musk had bought our chain, CNN. […] I’m in a position to say, and I’m sure that the channel will confirm it later, I have a statement that clarifies, in very concrete terms and very emphatically, that this is false information. Elon Musk has nothing to do with CNN.”

At the time of writing, Musk had not commented on the news and CNN had not given an institutional statement. The news was widely shared on social media Friday morning, with many users pointing out that it was fake news and signaling satire website Spacexmania as the most likely source of the rumor. 

On October 18, Spacexmania published an article titled “Elon Musk Reportedly Eyeing CNN Acquisition: ‘I’ll Fix the Media, One Network at a Time.’” It was filed under the category “Satire,” which the site says contains stories that “are not meant to be taken seriously.”

“These articles are meant to be humorous and are often entirely made up. We make no claim that the information presented in these articles is true or accurate,” reads the disclaimer the site has published regarding this section. 

It is unclear where Milei got the information and whether he has spoken to Musk about it. According to Google Trends, in the United States the search for “Musk buying CNN” has been growing since November 6, the day after the elections. Between November 6 and 8, searches skyrocketed by 80%, with the greatest interest coming from the state of Florida.  

The Argentine president and the tech billionaire, a close advisor of Donald Trump, have managed to build a relationship of sorts over the course of 2024. They have met at least three times in the United States and heaped praise on each other on social media. 

Shortly after Milei defeated then-Economy Minister Sergio Massa in the November 2023 runoff election, Musk wrote on X: “Prosperity is ahead for Argentina.” The message was published in response to an account called “End Wokeness,” which had posted a picture of Milei standing in front of a Gadsden flag. Taken as a symbol of the right, it is a yellow banner with a coiled rattlesnake and the words “Don’t tread on me.”

Milei, for his part, has lauded Musk as a champion of free speech. In a post in August where he accused journalists of “crying because they have lost the monopoly” on information, the Argentine president thanked Musk for the “gift of absolute freedom” on X. 

“Before we had woke censorship, where comments that didn’t follow that particular line were reported and you could lose your account,” he wrote, claiming that “it was clear that freedom had won.”