January 1, Elon Musk Faces Backlash For His Tweets About Jews

Tech billionaire Elon Musk faced backlash from Jewish leaders and at least one advertiser after he seemingly embraced an antisemitic conspiracy theory on X, the social media app he purchased a year ago. Responding to another user who had accused Jews of hating white people and expressed indifference to antisemitism, Musk wrote: “You have said the actual truth.”

Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, followed up his first tweet with criticism of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), an organization founded by Jews to oppose antisemitism. Jonathan Greenblatt, the ADL’s CEO, said Musk was acting dangerously, stating, “At a time when antisemitism is exploding in America and surging around the world, it is indisputably dangerous to use one’s influence to validate and promote antisemitic theories.”

Accounts with histories of espousing anti-Jewish views celebrated Musk’s tweet as welcome news. A. J. Bauer, an assistant professor of journalism who studies right-wing movements and media at the University of Alabama, said, “This is old-timey antisemitism with new lingo.”

IBM announced it had pulled its advertisements from X, stating, “IBM has zero tolerance for hate speech and discrimination and we have immediately suspended all advertising on X while we investigate this entirely unacceptable situation.” Linda Yaccarino, the CEO of X, said antisemitism and discrimination are unacceptable but did not directly address Musk’s tweets or IBM’s move.

Musk defended his past tweets in an interview with CNBC in May, saying he is a “prosemite,” not an antisemite. Rabbi Abraham Cooper, the director of global social action for the Simon Wiesenthal Center, said he was baffled by the way Musk uses X and added, “I almost feel like saying to him, ‘Grow up.’”

Matthew Hughey, a sociology professor at the University of Connecticut who has studied white supremacy, said Musk’s tweets could have a real impact on the real-world actions of others, adding, “We should expect to see more hate crimes and rallying around this type of discourse because of his amplification.”

Musk has a long history of amplifying antisemitic conspiracy theories, including tweeting a photo of Adolf Hitler as part of an apparent joke and welcoming back rapper Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, to social media despite Ye’s antisemitic comments. A. J. Bauer said, “Elon Musk has been making antisemitic comments on Twitter and on other formats for many, many years.”

Why It Matters (op-ed)

Elon Musk’s recent tweets are causing quite a stir, but let’s not be too quick to judge. As a conservative man, I believe in freedom of speech, and sometimes that means hearing things we don’t like. Sure, Musk’s comments may have been controversial, but we should be careful not to jump to conclusions and label him as an antisemite. It’s important to consider the context and Musk’s own claims of being a “prosemite.” Besides, shouldn’t we focus on the great things he’s doing with Tesla and SpaceX instead of a few tweets? Let’s not let cancel culture silence another influential voice in our society.

As our loyal readers, we encourage you to share your thoughts and opinions on this issue. Let your voice be heard and join the discussion below.

Source