Apology for endorsing antisemitic post
"It might be literally the worst and dumbest post I've ever done …" says Musk.
(THE TIMES OF ISRAEL) Elon Musk called his recent endorsement of an antisemitic conspiracy theory “foolish” and said he was “sorry for that post” on X, the social media platform he owns and renamed from Twitter.
But speaking at The New York Times Dealbook Summit last Wednesday, Musk also struck back at the advertisers who have fled the platform over his post.
And the mogul, fresh off a trip to Israel where he toured a community ravaged by Hamas terrorists on October 7, also suggested that some Jewish organisations have funded Hamas-affiliated groups under what he said was the guise of “perception of persecution”.
Musk reserved his biggest vitriol for advertisers including Disney that have suspended their spending on X. “If somebody’s going to try to blackmail me with advertising, blackmail me with money, go f**k yourself,” Musk said.
Earlier in the day, Disney CEO Bob Iger said Disney’s decision to leave X came after the company decided the site was “not something for us” because Musk took “the position he took, in quite a public manner”.
Elsewhere during the interview, Musk expressed regret for his November 15 tweet in which he called a user’s antisemitic post “the actual truth”.
“I should have, in retrospect, not replied to that particular person and I should have written in greater length as to what I meant,” Musk said.
“I’m sorry for that post. It was foolish of me,” he added. “It might be literally the worst and dumbest post I’ve ever done … in fact far from being antisemitic, I’m in fact philo-semitic.”
Discussing his recent Israeli visit, Musk said it had been planned in advance of his controversial tweet and was “not an apology tour”.
He showed off a dog tag he wore around his neck reading “Bring Them Home” that he said had been given to him by a parent of one of the hostages held in Gaza.
“I said that I would wear it as long as there is a hostage still remaining. And I am,” Musk said.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog addressed Musk’s recent visit, saying he “appreciated” the mogul’s appearance but stopped short of saying he believed Musk would effectively fight antisemitism on X.
Content on X, formerly Twitter, has gained increased scrutiny since the war between Israel and Hamas began on October 7.
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