Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said there’s been a ‘target’ on Elon Musk ever since his purchase of Twitter as he defended the billionaire for posting in support of an anti-Semitic tweets.
Meanwhile, Democrat Sen. Richard Blumenthal slammed the Tesla CEO, who purchased Twitter and renamed it X, for his ‘sickening’ post.
DeSantis, who launched his 2024 presidential bid in a conversation live on X seven months after Musk’s purchase, said that he had not yet seen the anti-Semitic post and Musk’s agreement with it.
‘I did not see the comment – and so I know that Elon has had a target on his back ever since he purchased Twitter, because I think he’s taking it in a direction that a lot of people who are used to controlling the narrative don’t like,’ DeSantis told CNN’s State of the Union host Jake Tapper on Sunday.
He added: ‘So I was a big supporter of him purchasing Twitter. I think that they’re obviously still working some stuff out, but I did not see those comments.’
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis dismissed concerns over Elon Musk promoting an anti-Semitic post, claiming ‘Elon has had a target on his back ever since he purchased Twitter’
Many companies have pulled their ads from X after Musk posted ‘You have said the actual truth’ to an anti-Semitic post on his social media site
Some big corporations have pulled their ads from X after the comments from Musk – and politicians and lawmakers have slammed the CEO for the post.
‘I encourage, in fact, I urge advertisers like IBM, which has done so, to withdraw from X and to send a message to Elon Musk that hate has no place on this powerful megaphone,’ Sen. Blumenthal told NBC Meet the Press host Kristen Welker on Sunday.
‘And as you know, the surge of antisemitic, anti-Muslim, white supremacist, anti-Black sentiment on social media has been an incubator, in fact, an accelerant to more than just speech; action that constitutes hate crimes,’ he added.
Tensions are on the rise amid the war between Israel and Hamas after the terrorists invaded last month, leading to the largest single-day massacre of Jewish people since the Holocaust. The ensuing violence has led to clashes between pro-Israel and pro-Palestine groups in the U.S. and all over the world.
Meanwhile, Musk has been strongly criticized by the Jewish Anti-Defamation League and Israel’s Foreign Ministry for his past remarks – and appeared to take the side against Israel.
On Wednesday Musk responded on X to a man who criticized a Foundation to Combat Anti-Semitism campaign video where a father is seen talking to his son about the online hatred the son has spewed, and calling him out for his rhetoric.
The X user dismissed the video, writing: ‘Jewish communties (sic) have been pushing the exact kind of dialectical hatred against whites that they claim to want people to stop using against them.’
‘I’m deeply disinterested in giving the tiniest s*** now about western Jewish populations coming to the disturbing realization that those hordes of minorities that support flooding their country don’t exactly like them too much.
‘You want truth said to your face, there it is.’
Musk, who has 163 million followers, replied publicly on Twitter with: ‘You have said the actual truth.’
CNN’s Tapper said to DeSantis on Sunday: ‘I’m just saying, Elon Musk is a pretty powerful guy, and he’s out there endorsing some pretty hideous antisemitic conspiracy theories. And I still haven’t heard you condemn it.’
Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal said: ‘Elon Musk has turned X, formerly known as Twitter, into a cesspool of hate speech and extremist incitement’
‘Well, because I haven’t seen it. I know you tried to read it. I have no idea what the context is,’ DeSantis said.
‘I know Elon Musk. I have never seen him do anything – I think he’s a guy that believes in America – I have never seen him indulge in any of that,’ the Florida governor sai. ‘So it’s surprising, if that’s true, but I have not seen it. So I don’t want to sit there and pass judgment on the fly.’
Blumenthal, a Democrat, however had more harsh words for the billionaire.
‘My reaction to Elon Musk’s post was absolute abhorrence,’ he said. ‘His saying that this blatantly antisemitic comment, quote, ‘The actual truth,’ is sickening and chilling.’
The Connecticut senator added: ‘Elon Musk has turned X, formerly known as Twitter, into a cesspool of hate speech and extremist incitement.’