[darthrupert]

That's not really proof of having 1st person contact with anyone. Propaganda has a way of spreading into useful idiots who then carry the message without any clue where it came from.

Except for the very very few who have actual knowledge about things, we're all falling for it. And it's kinda fine, being fully knowledgeable about these things would be a full-time job that not everyone's qualified to do. Besides, most of us have other things to do.

[jfengel]

It would be nice if those who were not knowledgeable about things would at least proceed on that basis. When combined with confirmation bias and a pinch of paranoia, it leads to a lot of people patting themselves on the back for being "contrarians". In fact they are not merely dead wrong, but incapable of evaluating the notion that they might be wrong.

[hollowdene]

In isolation, no. But this + someone explicitly saying Musk told them he spoke to Putin is more convincing.

This is all a bit of a side show, though, for all the reasons you outlined.