Elon Musk has made some disturbing comments about Jews. Here’s a list

A Christian group is calling on Elon Musk to stop attacking the ADL. Photo by Carina Johansen/NTB/AFP via Getty Images

By Adam Kovac September 6, 2023

Editor’s note: This story was originally published June 9, 2023. The Forward updates and re-publishes this list from time to time as warranted.

Soon after buying Twitter in 2022, Elon Musk reinstated many users who’d been banned from the platform for hate speech, conspiracy theories and other bigotry and misinformation.

Musk has also made a number of disturbing comments himself, including promoting a QAnon conspiracy theory and antisemitism. He sometimes quotes Nazis and he has had chummy exchanges with avowed bigots. In addition, he’s part of a campaign by far-right activists to bash the Anti-Defamation League, which has criticized him for permitting hate speech on the platform he owns.

Antisemitism Notebook

Your weekly guide through the news and the noise of how rising antisemitism and disputes over how to address it are shaping American Jewish life.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

Since Musk bought Twitter in 2022, which he’s since rebranded as X, groups that track hate speech have documented spikes in racist, xenophobic and antisemitic activity on the platform.

The following is a running list of every instance of antisemitic activity involving Musk we have found so far. See one we missed? Send to editorial@forward.com, subject line: Musk + Antisemitism.

Nov. 15, 2023: On a post that invoked the “great replacement theory,” accusing Jews of “flooding their country” with “hordes of minorities,” Musk replied to a user “You have said the actual truth.” 

Sept. 4, 2023: White supremacist Nick Fuentes, on his America First livestream, applauded Musk’s engagement with a #BantheADL campaign on Twitter, including Musk having “tweeted 28 times in just the last 24 hours about this campaign.”

Sept. 4, 2023: Musk accused the ADL of being the “biggest generators of anti-Semitism” on Twitter and threatened a $4 billion lawsuit against them, saying they’d scared away advertisers.

Sept. 1, 2023: Musk “liked” a #BantheADL campaign that erupted among extremists on Twitter, now rebranded by Musk as X.

June 8, 2023: Musk replied with laughing emojis to a tweet from Andrew Torba, the founder and CEO of far-right social media platform Gab. Torba is one of the most outspoken and unrepentant antisemites in the United States: in July 2022, he said on Gab TV: “This is a Christian nation. Christians outnumber you, by a lot. A lot. And we’re not gonna listen to 2%. You represent 2% of the country, OK? We’re not bending the knee to the 2% anymore.” Other antisemitic incidents have included accusing Jews of stifling freedom of speech, reposting claims to Gab that Jews seek to “psychologically and spiritually” castrate Americans, promoted the “great replacement theory” and stated that Jews like Ben Shapiro are “not welcome in the movement unless he repents and accepts Jesus Christ as his Lord and savior.”

June 7, 2023: Musk responded to an antisemitic tweet about adrenochrome and actor-director Mel Gibson. The tweet contrasted a photo of President Joe Biden with his eyes closed and Gibson — who once blamed all wars on Jews and whose father was a Holocaust denier — in a muscle-bearing tank top. The tweet implied that Biden uses adrenachrome, a chemical that, according to QAnon conspiracy theorists, is harvested by a shadowy cabal (often comprised of Jews) through the trafficking and sexual abuse of children. Gibson is praised for hating “the Js,” or Jews. Musk’s response was to admire Gibson’s physique. 

May 29, 2023: Musk tweeted the quote, “To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are allowed to criticize.” The quote is often erroneously attributed to Voltaire but is from neo-Nazi Kevin Alfred Strom.

May 15, 2023: Musk compared George Soros, the billionaire philanthropist, to the X-Men comic book villain Magneto and followed up by saying Soros hates humanity. In X-Men canon, Magneto is, like Soros, a Holocaust survivor, an experience that leads him to work toward the destruction of humankind. The tweet earned an admonishment from Israel’s Foreign Ministry, which was later retracted. 

A day later, after criticism from the Anti-Defamation League, Musk tweeted: The “ADL should drop the A”

Jan. 24, 2023: Musk reinstated to Twitter Nick Fuentes, a live-streamer well-known for his antisemitic views, included repeated praise of Hitler. He was banned again soon after.

Dec. 22, 2022: Andrew Anglin, founder of the Daily Stormer, was reinstated to Twitter and immediately posted about Hitler. Anglin remained on the site until April, when he was banned again. 

Dec. 19, 2022: Musk exchanged tweets with Kim Schmitz, a pioneer of online piracy who goes by Kim Dotcom and is known for bigoted views. Schmitz, who owns a copy of Mein Kampf signed by Hitler, has made comments in the past about Jews running Hollywood. 

Dec. 12, 2022: Former Twitter employee Yoel Roth fled his home over safety concerns after a deluge of antisemitic threats sparked by repeated Musk criticism.

Nov. 27, 2022: Musk called Alexander Vindman, a decorated Jewish military veteran and witness against former President Donald Trump, “both puppet & puppeteer,” echoing white supremacist rhetoric about Jews and political power.

Nov. 22, 2022: Musk tweeted “stop defaming me” at the ADL, prompting an interaction that ended with disgraced rapper Kanye West, in the midst of a monthslong spree of antisemitic comments, saying “Shalom.”

Nov. 8, 2022: Musk posted a picture of a Nazi soldier in a tweet that now was later deleted.

October 2022: Musk welcomed West back to Twitter, then banned him again for “inciting violence” after West tweeted a photo of a logo that appeared to combine a Star of David with a swastika. 

Feb. 17, 2022: Musk tweeted a meme comparing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to Hitler; it was later deleted. The tweet sparked an indirect response from the United States Holocaust Museum admonishing Musk. 

May 17, 2020: Musk tweeted “Take the Red Pill,” a phrase often associated with QAnon. The phrase is a reference to the film The Matrix, in which a red pill leads to awakening into the “real world” that is normally hidden. A reply by Ivanka Trump — then serving in the White House — saying “Taken!” garnered a reply from Lilly Wachowski, the co-director of the film, saying “F— both of you.”

May 26, 2018: During an interaction with NBC reporter Ben Collins, Musk tweeted, “Who do you think owns the press?” which many viewed as repeating an antisemitic trope about Jews. Musk followed up by saying anyone who thought it was antisemitic was revealing their “inner bigot.”

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.

In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.

At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.

Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we need 500 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.

Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly. 

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Our Goal: 500 gifts during our Passover Pledge Drive!

Make a Passover Gift!