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In this July 16, 2018, file photo Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and U.S. President Donald Trump give a joint news conference at the Presidential Palace in Helsinki, Finland.Associated Press
Russian President Vladimir Putin and his regime are well known for spreading propaganda about the war effort in Ukraine — but they've also had help disseminating their messages from influential and powerful public figures.
Among them are Elon Musk, the Tesla CEO and billionaire who is known for sharing his takes on just about any topic on Twitter — which, notably, he owns as of last week.
Puck's Julia Ioffe, a journalist and expert on Russia, wrote last month that Musk has been "simply acting as a messenger for the Kremlin."
"Musk, who thinks of himself as an original and iconoclastic thinker who doesn't bow to authority, is acting as a carrier pigeon for a dictator purposely bombing civilians," she said, adding he is "normalizing" Putin's message and "adding nothing of his own except his imprimatur and legitimacy to ideas that are not his."
"And what do we call someone who does that?" she continued. "A useful idiot."
Musk is hardly alone among powerful figures repeating Putin talking points. Here are five, including Musk.
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