Platforms like X are rife with posts alleging Sánchez’s wife, Begoña Gómez, is a transgender woman (a claim that has also been leveled at Brigitte Macron, the French first lady whose husband is similarly pushing for stricter regulation of social media).
Spain’s prime minister has acknowledged that “personal attacks have crossed many red lines,” and appeared to nearly crack under the strain in 2024, when he revealed he was thinking of resigning as a result of the constant abuse.
“Should I continue to lead this government or renounce this highest of honors?” the prime minister wrote at the time. “I urgently need to answer a question that I keep asking myself: Is it worth it for me to remain [in office] in spite of the right and far-right’s mudslinging?”
In response to Sánchez’s latest proposals to ban under-16s from social media platforms, Elon Musk called him a “true fascist totalitarian.” | Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images
His decision to stay was quickly followed by efforts to address the abuse, including a call for the Spanish parliament to tackle hoaxes and the misuse of artificial intelligence.
After tech billionaires, including Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, attended Donald Trump’s second inauguration and X’s Musk launched the U.S. administration’s DOGE program in January 2025, Sánchez began to openly criticize the tech billionaires, whom he said were “undermining our democratic institutions” in exchange for political power.
In response to his latest proposals to ban under-16s from social media platforms, Musk called the Spaniard a “true fascist totalitarian.”