Skip to main content

Elon Musk defends ‘antisemitic' tweets on George Soros after Israeli criticism

Israel's Foreign Ministry accused the Twitter owner of encouraging antisemitic posts on the social media platform.
LUDOVIC MARIN/AFP via Getty Images

Twitter owner and Tesla chief Elon Musk defended his language and controversial tweets against accusations of antisemitism, after comments he made about George Soros. 

In an interview with CNBC on Tuesday, Musk said he will continue to post controversial tweets. “I’ll say what I want to say and if the consequence of that is losing money, so be it,” he said.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry accused Musk of stoking antisemitic rhetoric on his social media platform  on Tuesday after his posted remarks critical of Hungarian Jewish philanthropist George Soros.

Earlier that day, Musk tweeted that Soros “reminds me of Magneto,” a comic book villain featuring in Marvel’s X-Men series, who, like Soros, survived the Holocaust. Some 40 million people viewed Musk's post. Responding to one reaction claiming that Soros is acting out of good intentions, Musk wrote, “You assume they are good intentions. They are not. He wants to erode the very fabric of civilization. Soros hates humanity.” 

Access the Middle East news and analysis you can trust

Join our community of Middle East readers to experience all of Al-Monitor, including 24/7 news, analyses, memos, reports and newsletters.

Subscribe

Only $100 per year.