Did Texas Gov.-elect Gina Hinojosa apologize to Elon Musk in an "open letter"? No, that's not true: Three online tools and Lead Stories' manual analysis strongly suggested that the viral image was made by AI. The alleged open letter also contained a spelling mistake in the word "governor," and Lead Stories found no reports from established news outlets of such a letter.
The claim appeared in a post (archived here) on X where it was published by @TDMfutbol on Nov. 10, 2026. The caption began:
🚨 MAJOR BREAKING NEWS: GINA HINOJOSA FINALLY APOLOGIZES TO ELON MUSK AFTER 72 HOURS OF INTENSE BACKLASH FROM TEXAS RESIDENTS
It continued:
The dramatic change in tone comes after growing concerns among Texas residents about the potential economic consequences of Musk moving his businesses and investments out of the state...
This is what the attachment to the post looked like on X at the time of publication:
(Image source: post by @TDMfutbol on X.)
The text in the image, which resembled an official-looking document, read:
OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR-ELECT
Governor-elect Gina Hinojosa's Open Letter of Apology to Elon Musk
November 10, 2026
To Elon Musk and the People of Texas:
I am writing today to offer a sincere and unreserved apology for my recent comments and attacks regarding data centers, SpaceX, Tesla, and working relationships in Texas.
I deeply regret the harsh tone of my remarks, specifically the statements that businesses must operate only on 'our terms' or that they were 'taking advantage' of Texans, as well as my comments calling the sale of beach land 'unacceptable'.
I apologize directly to you, Elon. Those remarks were overstated and do not reflect my true desire for a strong partnership. I have asked all businesses, including Musk's companies, to commence and continue operations in Texas in a way that benefits communities.
GINA HINOJOSA • GOVERNOR-ELECT OF TEXAS • AUSTIN, TX
The viral picture, however, did not show an authentic letter authored by Hinojosa (archived here).
AI detector Pangram found that the presence of generative AI in this image was highly likely:
(Image source: Pangram.)
AI or Not, which is another online tool of this kind, said that the odds of the picture being a product of generative AI were 98%:
(Image source: AI or Not.)
ZeroGPT, the third tool used by Lead Stories, reached the conclusion that the image in question was "97% FAKE":
(Image source: ZeroGPT.)
A closer look at the purported seal revealed garbled text typical of AI-generated images instead of English letters on the left side of the image, and that was paired with a spelling error in the word "governor" on the right:
(Image source: post by @TDMfutbol on X.)
A search across Google News for the keywords seen here (archived here) did not show reports from established media organizations discussing the "open letter of apology to Elon Musk".
Days after the victory, Hinojosa spoke on live TV (archived here) and said Texas "can have a strong working relationship with Elon Musk and his companies, but it has to be on our terms." She added that it "cannot be just running over the people of Texas." That followed the losses of the candidates supported by Elon Musk (archived here) in the same 2026 midterms that elected Hinojosa governor.
The Texas Constitution (archived here) says a governor is installed in a separate step after the election:
The Governor elected at the general election in 1974, and thereafter, shall be installed on the first Tuesday after the organization of the Legislature, or as soon thereafter as practicable, and shall hold his office for the term of four years, or until his successor shall be duly installed.
In accordance with the requirements described above, the swearing-in ceremony is scheduled for Jan. 19, 2027 (archived here).
As of publication, Hinojosa has not been added to the official list of Texas governors (archived here), and a governor-elect has no authority to use the governor's seal.
Lead Stories searched for evidence corroborating the existence of "Office of Governor-elect" in Texas, but found none. No such office was on the list of the statewide elected officials (archived here) maintained by the Secretary of State; and a search across government websites on Google for the keywords seen here (archived here) did not show such an office. What happened after the victory was that Hinojosa announced (archived here) the formation of her transition team (archived here).
Lead Stories reviewed real Texas seals on the websites of the Secretary of State (archived here), Governor (archived here) and Lieutenant Governor (archived here). The latter bore more resemblance to what was seen in the viral image, but the real Lieutenant Governor seal did not contain the spelling mistake in the word governor. This is what it looked like:
(Image source: Ltgov.texas.gov.)
