United States Vice-President-elect J.D. Vance and Elon Musk have condemned media coverage of an incident involving a Saudi doctor who drove his car into a Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany. Five people were killed and more than 200 injured in what authorities are treating as deliberate violence.
Taking to social media platform X, Vance responded to the headline The Associated Presswho described the incident as “a group of people” driving a “car”. “Who was driving the car?” Vance questioned
Who was driving the car? https://t.co/A6Bq8WuswL
— JD Vance (@JDVance) December 20, 2024
Earlier in a post, Vance expressed his condolences to the people affected by the incident. “What a terrible attack so close to Christmas,” he posted.
You don’t hate the lying legacy media enough https://t.co/gMtjbp2EMG
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 20, 2024
Sharing a screengrab of various media outlets’ coverage of the attack, Musk echoed similar sentiments. “You don’t hate the legacy media enough to lie,” he said.
attack
In the incident, five people, including a child, were killed and more than 200 were injured when a black BMW drove into the Magdeburg Christmas market on Friday.
According to local time, around 7 pm, the accident happened in the busy evening of buying holidays in the market. A video from the scene shows the suspect – identified as a 50-year-old Saudi national who has lived in Germany since 2006 – surrendering to police shortly after the attack.
In pictures All you need to know about the deadly Christmas market car attack in Germany
The driver, Taib A, a 50-year-old psychiatrist born in Saudi Arabia, was arrested at the scene. Officials described the act as a terror attack but said the suspects were not linked to Islamist groups.
The attack has reignited political debate in Germany, with leaders such as Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Interior Minister Nancy Fesser condemning the violence. Scholz, due to visit Magdeburg, called it “terrible” and appealed for caution.
The tragedy has also drawn international attention, with world leaders and political figures expressing solidarity with the victims while scrutinizing the media framing of the event.
(With inputs from The Guardian)
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