Did JD Vance slam Elon Musk and his South African origin in viral leaked audio?

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An audio clip, supposedly of Vice President JD Vance criticizing Elon Musk, is viral. JD Vance’s team and audio verification tools claim it is fake and not Vance’s voice. The audio caused social media uproar but was sourced from TikTok and lacks credibility. In the audio, JD Vance allegedly said Elon Musk is not even an American and is now making him (Vance) and Trump look bad.

A purported audio of Vice President JD Vance apparently slamming Elon Musk is going viral in what the Republicans call the latest attempt to create a wedge in the Donald Trump administration. The voice in the audio sounds like JD Vance but JD Vance’s communication director William Martin said the audio is 100 per cent fake and “most certainly” not the vice president. Grok, the AI tool of X and some other audio detectors also claimed it was not JD Vance who gave a long rant against Elon Musk in the purported leaked audio.

In the viral audio, the voice that sounds like JD Vance said everything Elon Musk is doing is getting criticized in the media. “He’s making us look bad, he’s making me look bad,” it said adding that Elon Musk was not born in America; he’s a South African who’s now cos-playing as a great American leader.

The audio takes it further to make things worse between JD Vance and Elon Musk as the voice says Elon Musk has the audacity to pretend like an elected official while he’s not one, but JD Vance is. “I am the important one in this situation and not he,” the voice impersonating JD Vance said.

Social media users reacted before realizing it was probably not an original audio, some taking the side of Elon Musk and some the VP’s.

The audio was reportedly sourced from TikTok. “The quote attributed to JD Vance about Elon Musk—“He’s from South Africa and cos-playing as a great American leader”—is likely not real. No credible evidence supports the leaked audio’s authenticity, and it’s absent from Vance’s verified statements. Given AI’s ability to fake audio and Grok’s view that it lacks proof, it’s probably fabricated,” Grok said.

The initial days of the Donald Trump administration saw Elon Musk overshadowing JD Vance but then Vance asserted his role in the foreign assignments and also in the historic meeting between Trump and Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskyy which turned into a high-pitched altercation. Vance has also assumed the role of finance chairman for the Republican National Committee — rare for a sitting vice president.

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