The New York Times is standing by its reporting that Elon Musk's drug use "was more intense than previously known" when he started to wield influence over Donald Trump's presidential campaign and possibly beyond.
In a post to X on Tuesday afternoon, the newspaper's communications account wrote, "Elon Musk is continuing to lash out because he doesn't like our reporting. Nothing that he's said or presented since our article about his drug use during the presidential campaign was published contradicts what we uncovered. We stand by our journalism."
The post was in response to Musk's screenshot of a "Laboratory Final Report" conducted by "United States Drug Testing" on samples the post states were collected June 11 showed "negative" results for drugs, including cocaine, ketamine, opiates, and cannabinoids. Musk posted "lol" along with the screenshot.
Trump reportedly called Musk "a big-time drug addict" in the aftermath of their very public war of words after the Tesla tycoon's exit from the White House.
Musk has admitted to routinely using ketamine to treat depression, and he famously smoked marijuana live on the air with Joe Rogan in 2018.
The Times piece quoted "people familiar with his activities" to report, "Mr. Musk’s drug consumption went well beyond occasional use. He told people he was taking so much ketamine, a powerful anesthetic, that it was affecting his bladder, a known effect of chronic use. He took Ecstasy and psychedelic mushrooms. And he traveled with a daily medication box that held about 20 pills, including ones with the markings of the stimulant Adderall, according to a photo of the box and people who have seen it."
The report said it was "unclear" whether Musk "was taking drugs when he became a fixture at the White House this year and was handed the power to slash the federal bureaucracy. But he has exhibited erratic behavior, insulting cabinet members, gesturing like a Nazi and garbling his answers in a staged interview."
