--- title: "Here’s Why People Are Calling Elon Musk a “Space Karen”" description: "Elon Musk was mocked on Twitter this weekend over calling the validity of his own COVID-19 tests into question. The term \"Space Karen\" was trending later." date: "2020-11-16" modified: "2020-11-16" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/elon-musk-space-karen" categories: - "Elon Musk" - "Future Society" - "The Industrialists" tags: - "coronavirus" - "covid19" - "elon musk" --- # Here’s Why People Are Calling Elon Musk a “Space Karen” ![Elon Musk was mocked on Twitter this weekend over calling the validity of his own COVID-19 tests into question. The term "Space Karen" was trending later.]() *\Image: Steve Jurvetson/Victor Tangermann\* SpaceX CEO Elon Musk had to follow his space company's historic Crew-1 launch on Sunday evening from the comfort of his own home. That's because he's likely come [down with COVID-19](). "Two tests came back negative, two came back positive," the mercurial billionaire [tweeted]() on November 13. "Same machine, same test, same nurse." Musk also took the opportunity to voice skepticism surrounding the validity of COVID-19 testing. "Something extremely bogus is going on," he wrote. Musk has been an outspoken skeptic of the ongoing global pandemic. He previously [called the early panic]() surrounding the pandemic "dumb" and also infamously [predicted]() there to be "close to zero new cases" by the "end of April." In September, he even [told *The New York Times*]() that he won't get a vaccine for him and his family. "I’m not at risk for COVID, nor are my kids," Musk said. In light of all the public health chaos he's sown, the internet has now bequeathed him with the derogatory nickname "Space Karen." The term even hit Twitter's influential "trending" box, [*The Independent* reports](). https://twitter.com/danhett/status/1328275608007217153 Antigen tests, the ones Musk called into question on Friday, can be completed in a matter of hours, but are less accurate and should therefore be used as a screening tool rather than a diagnostic one. PCR tests take longer, but are far more accurate. "Rapid antigen tests trade sensitivity for speed," Emma Bell, bioinformatics postdoc student, [noted in a reply]() on Twitter. "They return a result in \<30 minutes, but can only detect COVID-19 when you're absolutely riddled with it." "What's bogus is that Space Karen didn't read up on the test before complaining to his millions of followers," they explained. On Saturday, Musk took to Twitter to clarify the situation surrounding his health — but, like a raging Karen in a checkout line, succeeded only in muddying the waters further. "Am getting wildly different results from different labs, but most likely I have a moderate case of COVID," [he tweeted](). "My symptoms are that of a minor cold, which is no surprise, since a coronavirus is a type of cold." That's false, of course — though other coronaviruses do cause types of the common cold, COVID can be far more severe. In fact, [more than a million people]() have already died from it worldwide. **READ MORE:** [Elon Musk forced to watch historic SpaceX launch from home and mocked as ‘Space Karen’ after catching Covid]() \[*The Independent*\] **More on Musk:** *[Elon Musk Tests Positive For COVID]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()