Axios CEO Jim VandeHei and X owner Elon Musk locked horns over who defines “the media” in the wake of the election.
In the early morning hours of Nov. 6, as Donald Trump was being declared president-elect, Musk wrote to his X followers, “You are the media now,” a sentiment he has repeated in the weeks since.
VandeHei delivered a fiery speech in response on Thursday as he was honored, along with his Axios co-founder Mike Allen, with the National Press Club’s Fourth Estate Award.
“I hate this damn debate about, like, ‘Oh, we don’t need the media,’” the Axios CEO said, later arguing that, for journalists, “Everything we do is under fire.”
“Elon Musk sits on Twitter every day, or X today, saying, like, ‘We are the media! You are the media!’ My message to Elon Musk is: ‘Bulls—. You’re not the media.’” he said to applause.
Elon Musk laughs while onstage…
