A Starlink satellite crashing back to Earth is now the center of a left-wing conspiracy Musk stole the election
A conspiracy theory circulating among liberals claims that satellites owned by billionaire Elon Musk may have altered the outcome of the 2024 presidential election.
In a series of social media posts over the weekend, left-wing users pointed to the internet provider Starlink in an attempt to explain away President-elect Donald Trump's victory.
Users specifically cited the use of Starlink's satellite-based internet at polling locations across the country as evidence of foul play.
"Elon Musk used Starlink to hack our elections so he can have nice things while inflicting pain on Americans," an X user named James Tate wrote. "Are we really going to turn a blind eye to what happened and let the worst people among us run the country."
A TikTok video with over 875,000 views claims the same and further alleges that Starlink was used "to tally up and to count voting ballots" in multiple states.
The video, which was later shared on X, was eventually hit with a Community Note that debunked the notion that Starlink would somehow be able to manipulate votes.
Others pointed to a recent quote from Trump in which he said he had a "little secret" during his controversial rally at New York City's Madison Square Garden.
"If Trump & Elon's 'little secret' was to use Starlink in swing states to tally the votes and right the election - an investigation & hand recount is crucial. Now," @anyonewantchips said.
In reality, Trump's comment had nothing to do with Musk. Trump at the time was discussing an alleged secret he had with Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) that would help get Republicans elected to the House and Senate following the election.
The conspiracy theory only spread further after a fireball, which turned out to be a Starlink satellite, was spotted in the sky over the weekend across the Southwest U.S. Starlink's satellites are designed to re-enter Earth's atmosphere at the end of their missions to reduce clutter in low-Earth orbit.
Conspiracy theorists, however, saw the incident as proof that Musk was attempting to destroy a satellite involved in stealing the election from Democratic nominee Kamala Harris.
"Oh look -- @elonmusk destroying the evidence," user Cheri Jacobus wrote. "Starlink uploaded votes, and Musk said he knew the election outcome 4 hours before the rest of us did. Dems won downballot in swing states but we're to believe they voted straight Dem ticket but went for Trump over Harris?"
Satellite tracking data reveals that Starlink's devices are regularly removed from orbit. At least five re-entered the Earth's atmosphere in the week prior to the election.
Nevertheless, the conspiracy theory continues to grow among a small subset of left-wing voters.
"Not to be a conspiracy theorist but I suggest everyone start reading up on how Elon Musk was using Starlink at polling locations during the election and now multiple of those satellites are literally crashing and burning out of space back to earth over the last few days," user @advantageofme said.
While it's unclear where the conspiracy theory originated, it is nearly identical to one spread by conservatives during the 2020 election. Trump supporters alleged without evidence that an Italian satellite had somehow hacked the election.
The dubious claim was later picked up by Mark Meadows, Trump’s chief of staff at the time, who called on the Department of Justice to investigate.
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