Elon Musk’s spreading of ‘anti-Semitic conspiracy theory’ sees White House backlash
After supporting a conspiracy theory on X, the White House has responded to the billionaire.
The White House has called out the world’s richest person, Elon Musk, for a post he made on social media website X that promoted a dangerous conspiracy theory against Jewish people.
On 15 November, a man claimed on the website that Jewish communities have pushed a “dialectical hatred against whites”, which is a common argument among those who share the ‘white genocide’ conspiracy theory.
“You have said the actual truth,” Mr Musk, owner of X, SpaceX and Tesla, replied.
White House spokesperson Andrew Bates responded to Musk’s actions and called it a “hideous lie,” and “unacceptable.”
Mr Bates claimed it was an “abhorrent promotion of anti-Semitic and racist hate”, which the White House condemns “in the strongest terms”.
“It is unacceptable to repeat the hideous lie behind the most fatal act of anti-Semitism in American history at any time, let alone one month after the deadliest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust,” he said, referencing the attack on Israel by Hamas on 7 October.
The conspiracy theory was previously promoted by the man responsible for the 2018 massacre of a synagogue in Pittsburgh, USA, which killed 11 people.
Musk denied the initial post was anti-semitic, responding to one X user defending him with the ‘100’ emoji.
IBM and Apple have both reportedly paused advertising on X, formerly known as Twitter, following the post.
CEO of the Anti-Defamation League Jonathan Greenblatt criticised Musk’s post calling it “indisputably dangerous to use one’s influence to validate and promote anti-Semitic theories” at a time when anti-Semitism is high across the globe.
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. #NeverIsNowpic.twitter.com/vVlyOeoS5x
— Jonathan Greenblatt (@JGreenblattADL) November 16, 2023
A day later, Mr Greenblatt praised Musk for saying he considers the phrase “decolonisation” and “from the river to the sea” as a means of implying genocide, referring to language used by those protesting Israel and its march into the Gaza Strip.
Writer for the Daily Beast and former Orthodox Jew Elad Nehorai said Mr Greenblatt was “abandoning Jews” by praising Musk after his comment.
“This is a horrifying choice. It puts Jews in danger,” he said. “It is unforgivable.”
CEO of X Linda Yaccarino said the company has been “extremely clear about our efforts to combat anti-Semitism and discrimination.”
“There’s no place for it anywhere in the world”, she said.
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