The White House has condemned Elon Musk’s for endorsing a social media post which accused “Jewish communities” of “pushing hatred against whites.”
Musk said in response to the post on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) owned by the billionaire, “you have said the actual truth.”
White House spokesman Andrew Bates said it was “unacceptable to repeat the hideous lie behind the most fatal act of antisemitism in American history at any time,” referring to a mass murder of 11 people in Pittsburgh in 2018 by a perpetrator who believed in the antisemitic “white genocide” conspiracy theory.
“We condemn this abhorrent promotion of antisemitic and racist hate in the strongest terms, which runs against our core values as Americans,” Bates said in a statement.
Musk’s comments also prompted outrage from advertisers and investors.
International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM) has pulled its advertising from X over alleged pro-Nai content on the platform.
“IBM has zero tolerance for hate speech and discrimination and we have immediately suspended all advertising on X while we investigate this entirely unacceptable situation,” said in a statement.
The European Commission has also stopped advertising on X.
In an internal note to its heads of service and directors general, the Commission’s deputy chief spokesperson Dana Spinant said “widespread concerns relating to the spread of disinformation” have led it to “recommend to temporarily suspend advertising on this platform until further notice to avoid risks of reputational damage to the Commission.”
“X has also been extremely clear about our efforts to combat antisemitism and discrimination,” X CEO Linda Yaccarino said in a post on X on Thursday. “There’s no place for it anywhere in the world — it’s ugly and wrong. Full stop.”
Musk has not responded to requests for comments from media outlets.
Contact the author at emily.jarvie@proactiveinvestors.com
Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, @emilyjjarvie