An “Abhorrent Promotion of Antisemitic and Racist Hate”: White House Strongly Denounces Elon Musk’s Promotion of Antisemitism and Racism

Michelle HollandNov 22, 2023

Minute Read

The White House has made a statement condemning Elon Musk for endorsing a conspiracy theory that “Jewish communities” promote “hatred against whites.” Controversial billionaire Musk took to his own social media platform — X, formerly known as Twitter — to voice his approval of the antisemitic accusation.

The Social Media Post

The X post in question featured claims that Jewish communities have exerted the “exact kind of dialectical hatred against whites that they claim to want people to stop using against them.”

Musk’s Response

Image Credit: Frederic Legrand – COMEO/Shutterstock.

The post went on to say that “Western Jewish populations” are reaching the “disturbing realization that those hordes of minorities that support flooding their country don’t exactly like them too much.” Musk replied to the post: “You have said the actual truth.”

Rise in Antisemitism

Editorial credit: Anas-Mohammed / Shutterstock.

Musk’s remark is just one of many incidents that have comprised a global rise in antisemitism since the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel and Israel’s military reaction, which has seen over 12,000 Palestinians in Gaza killed.

A Troubling Trend

Following the escalation of the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict, many people have conflated Israel with the wider Jewish population and assigned the Jewish community responsibility for Israel’s actions. Antisemitism has been growing in the US in recent years, with October 27th marking the 5th anniversary of the Tree of Life synagogue mass shooting that killed 11 Jews.

The Tree of Life Massacre

The massacre in Pittsburgh became the deadliest attack against Jewish people ever in the United States, and antisemitic remarks were traced to the gunman’s social media account. 6 people were also injured, and Holocaust survivors were among the victims.

Condemning the Remarks

Editorial credit: Gil Corzo / Shutterstock.

Andrew Bates, a White House spokesman, said regarding the comments: “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.”

Against American Values

Bates continued, “We condemn this abhorrent promotion of antisemitic and racist hate in the strongest terms, which runs against our core values as Americans. We all have a responsibility to bring people together against hate, and an obligation to speak out against anyone who attacks the dignity of their fellow Americans and compromises the safety of our communities.”

Marking the Anniversary

Editorial credit: lev radin / Shutterstock.

Last month, Biden paid tribute to the Pittsburgh synagogue victims, reflecting on the incident as a “devastating atrocity” that has “brought to the surface painful memories left by millennia of antisemitism,” while observing the “alarming rise of antisemitism abroad and at home.”

Online Uproar

The internet has expressed outrage over Musk’s views while praising the White House’s response. One forum commenter wrote: “It really is a sign of how incompetent X and Tesla are right now that the White House is putting out a statement excoriating their CEO for racism and they haven’t even put out a response or anything.”

Musk’s Enablers

Image Credit: Koshiro K / Shutterstock.com

Someone replied, “Elon sacked all the grown-ups at X, there’s no one left to make a statement except him and a whole bunch of sycophants.” Another person stated, “I figured when he bought Twitter and invited every hate group on earth to join should’ve been enough proof but…”

Potential Punishments

On how Musk should be penalized for his remarks, one person suggested: “Cancel every government contract with all of Elon Musk’s businesses.” Someone else concurred, “He should be disqualified from running SpaceX due to his ties to enemy states.”

An Unsurprising Development

“Why is anyone surprised that Musk is antisemitic?” one contributor asked. “Nobody is, but it is slightly puzzling how openly he’s doing it now,” another person replied, whereas someone else explained that “he’s doing it openly now because all the other antisemites decided to do it openly after the October 7 attacks. He’s just following this disgusting trend.”

Free Speech Hypocrisy

Editorial credit: Christopher Penler/Shutterstock.

One poster believed that the situation was “appalling but not shocking. Racism and hate travel arm in arm with ‘free speech absolutism.’” In response, another forum member noted: “It’s also worth pointing out that he doesn’t believe in free speech. He censors his critics and liberals and he fires people who contradict him.”

Musk’s Fascism

They elaborated: “He wants free speech for fascists and censorship for everyone else.” Another person chimed in: “A fascist, white nationalist born in an apartheid nation is an antisemitic racist? Say it ain’t so Elon!”

Companies Pull Ads

Companies such as IBM, Apple, Warner Bros, Lionsgate, and Disney decided to suspend advertising on X as a result of Musk’s comments, which people online supported, with many of them feeling reaffirmed in their decision to no longer use the platform.

Calls for Nationalization

A popular idea on the forum was for the government to nationalize Musk’s businesses. “Time to nationalize Starlink and Space X,” one commenter wrote, whereas another felt that this was already something that “they should be doing.”

Edgelord Behavior

Users had no shortage of bad things to say about Musk, with people calling him out for his immaturity and ignorance. One person proclaimed that “This guy is a 15-year-old edgelord with the body of a 51-year-old loser,” whereas another simply stated: “He’s a Nazi. That’s all that needs to be said.”