Topline
Tesla CEO Elon Musk continued to target billionaire investor George Soros on Twitter Tuesday—accusing him of enabling violent crime to go relatively unpunished—despite being condemned for using right-wing conspiracies and antisemitic tropes to attack Soros.
FILE PHOTO: Tesla CEO Elon Musk continued to attack billionaire investor George Soros on Twitter … [+]
Key Facts
Musk’s remarks were made as a reply to a tweet by venture capitalist and early SpaceX investor David Sacks, who criticized Soros’ backing of progressive district attorney candidates in elections and called his actions “uniquely destructive to law & order in American cities.”
Musk agreed with Sacks, accusing Soros of instructing “his pet prosecutors…to minimize prosecuting even violent criminals.”
Musk then directly blamed an attack on comedian Dave Chappelle in Los Angeles last year on Soros’ push for criminal justice reforms, which he claims led to the attacker receiving only a misdemeanor for his offense.
Musk also sniped at the Anti-Defamation League—which had criticized his earlier remarks against Soros—by tweeting “ADL should just drop the ‘A’.”
Key Background
Musk came under heavy criticism for his remarks about Soros on Monday night, in which he compared the billionaire to the Marvel comic book villain Magneto. Musk later responded to a comment from a follower, saying Soros wants to “erode the very fabric of civilization,” and that he “hates humanity.” Several commenters on Twitter immediately criticized Musk for resorting to antisemitic tropes. Musk’s initial tweet about Soros was unprompted but came days after the billionaire’s firm Soros Fund Management disclosed it had sold off its entire holdings of Tesla stock. Aside from civil society groups like the ADL, Musk’s remarks were also criticized by the Israeli Foreign Ministry. Israeli officials also accused Twitter of failing to address “antisemitic conspiracies and hate speech targeting Jews.”
Crucial Quote
In an interview with CNBC on Tuesday evening, Musk staunchly defended his tweets and said “I’ll say what I want, and if the consequence of that is losing money, so be it.” The Twitter boss also rejected criticism that his tweets were antisemitic saying “I’m a pro-Semite, if anything.”
Further Reading
Musk Fans Conspiracies About George Soros After Billionaire’s Fund Dumps All Tesla Holdings (Forbes)
Elon Musk Defends Attacks On George Soros—Pushes Back On Notion He’s Antisemitic (Forbes)
Elon Musk Lashes Out At Jewish Group That Called His Attack On George Soros ‘Distressing’ And ‘Dangerous’ (Forbes)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2023/05/17/musk-targets-soros-on-twitter-after-defending-earlier-comments–despite-criticism-over-fanning-conspiracies/