With President-elect Donald Trump “First Buddy” Elon Musk teasing the possibility After he bought the liberal cable news channel MSNBC, it was only a matter of time before the allies of the

After the billionaire shared a sophomore meme about struggling to resist the “temptation” of buying MSNBC, a short clip of the MSNBC host followed Rachel Maddow supposedly holding back tears over Musk’s tweet quickly went viral on social media. But no, Maddow didn’t break down or get emotional when “DOGE” joked about being her new boss.

How did we get here? Following news last week that NBC Universal’s parent company, Comcast, is doing so split off MSNBC and half a dozen other cable channels in one separate company Musk started with the name SpinCo

In a tweet on Friday, Donald Trump Jr. tagged Musk and said he did it “The funniest idea ever” Link to a post asking whether MSNBC’s new owners will “realize that lying to your audience incessantly is a lousy business model.” Asked “How much does it cost?” Musk later added: “That most entertaining outcome, especially if ironic, is most likely,” alongside a crying, laughing emoji.

Trump Jr. is now a popular podcaster Joe Rogan also trolled MSNBC’s primetime anchors, claiming they were there for their jobs.

“If you buy MSNBC, I would like Rachael Maddow’s job. I’ll wear the same outfit and the same glasses and tell the same lies,” Rogan replied to Musk. “Since things are starting to get interesting, I’ll throw my hat in the ring too. I’m going to imitate Lawrence O’Donnell… without the castration, of course. That’s a bridge too far,” Trump Jr. added.

Finally, on Sunday at 1:49 a.m. ET, Tesla’s meme-addicted CEO tossed out an image of a provocatively dressed woman trying to tempt a celibate priest and attached the MSNBC logo to the woman. “And don’t tempt us,” Musk labeled the contribution.

Less than an hour after Musk’s late night tweet, Alex Lorusso – a right-wing social media influencer and executive producer of MAGA “Meme Lord” Benny Johnson’s Podcast – posted a short video of Maddow becoming visibly emotional while broadcasting Musk’s post. The clip also showed MSNBC running the chyron: “Elon Musk posts dangerous meme.”

Lorusso’s tweet soon gained widespread traction, with many social media users believing Maddow had actually cried on-air in response to Musk’s tweet and the possibility of the world’s richest man getting MSNBC.

In reality, the video is of Maddow choking a segment from June 2018 In it, the MSNBC star struggled to compose himself as he read a recent report about the Trump administration’s separation of young children from migrant families and their placement in shelters. Since she couldn’t finish reading the story on air, she then handed it over to her colleague O’Donnell.

While LoRossuo quickly noticed Follow-up tweet The fact that his clip was altered and just a “meme” didn’t stop others from making fun of Maddow and viewing the video as legitimate.

“Watching Rachel Maddow freak out about Elon Musk posting memes about buying MSNBC made my morning,” says MAGA influencer Isabella Maria DeLuca tweeted to her 450,000 followers.

“She’s crying because she knows her cash cow is running out,” one user tweetedwhile another exclaimed, “This is the best thing you’ll see today!” @elonmusk is now the proud owner of the most generous tears, perhaps in history! The #Winning never stops!”

Finally, a community note was added to the clip, noting that the “video has been altered” and was originally from “Maddow’s reaction to certain immigration policies under the Trump administration.”

But beyond the memes and altered video clips from Musk and his allies, the question remains whether the X owner is serious about buying MSNBC, the network that has arguably been the most critical of Trump over the years.

While “Musk’s post shouldn’t be ignored” because he announced his purchase of Twitter in a similar vein, and the online jokes only “add to the anxiety MSNBC employees are feeling after the election,” “Comcast didn’t put an ‘for’ in it.” “Sale sign on the door of MSNBC,” said CNN chief media analyst Brian Stelter reported.

“Comcast says the transaction will take approximately a year. At this point, could anyone make a bid for MSNBC? It’s complicated,” Stelter added. “’SpinCo’ is structured as a tax-free spin-off and the immediate sale of an asset would have tax implications that could prevent such a sale.