Elon Musk on Sunday lashed out at what he called “bogus” reports accusing him of antisemitism after he gave his support to an antisemitic statement last week that sparked outrage from X advertisers and the White House.
“This past week, there were hundreds of bogus media stories claiming that I am antisemitic,” the X boss wrote in a post on his platform Sunday. “Nothing could be further from the truth. I wish only the best for humanity and a prosperous and exciting future for all.”
The row began last Wednesday, when the SpaceX and Tesla mogul gave his backing to a post on X claiming that Jews have a “dialectical hatred against whites” and that western Jewish communities had supported the “flooding” of their countries with “hordes of minorities.” “You have said the actual truth,” Musk replied.
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Many critics said the original post to which Musk responded was disturbingly redolent of the “great replacement” conspiracy theory, an antisemitic belief that Jews are orchestrating the replacement of white populations with nonwhite immigrants. The conspiracy has been linked to acts of antisemitic violence including the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting in 2018, in which 11 people were killed—the deadliest attack on Jews in U.S. history.
Musk’s unequivocal endorsement of the message sparked an angry backlash and prompted some major corporate advertisers to stop or reduce spending on X, including Disney, Paramount Global, Apple, and IBM. On Friday, the White House issued a statement condemning the “abhorrent promotion of antisemitic and racist hate in the strongest terms, which runs against our core values as Americans.”
“It is unacceptable to repeat the hideous lie behind the most fatal act of antisemitism in American history at any time, let alone one month after the deadliest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust,” White House spokesman Andrew Bates added in the statement, referring to Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks in southern Israel.
