Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis refused to condemn and instead chose to defend Tesla CEO Elon Musk over an antisemitic post that the latter endorsed on X, formerly known as Twitter.
The antisemitic post that the billionaire entrepreneur supported alluded to a white supremacist conspiracy theory. During an interview, DeSantis was asked whether or not he condemns Musk's open endorsement of an antisemitic conspiracy theory. It argued that Jews were conspiring to replace white Americans with minority immigrants.
Ron DeSantis and Elon Musk
In response, the Republican lawmaker said that he did not see the particular comment in question. He added that he knows Musk has had a target on his back ever since the businessman bought Twitter taking the company in a new direction.
DeSantis said that he was a big supporter of Musk's decision to purchase Twitter, adding that he was still working some stuff out within the company. CNN "State of the Union" anchor Jake Tapper then read the post aloud. In it, a user said that he was "deeply disinterested in giving the tiniest s*** now about Western Jewish populations," as per NBC News.
The user allegedly realized that minorities that support flooding their country do not exactly like them so much. The post also claimed that Jewish people "have been pushing the exact kind of dialectical hatred against whites that they claim to want people to stop using against them."
Musk was then seen replying to the post, saying that it had spouted the "actual truth." The billionaire entrepreneur then went on to target the Anti-Defamation League. This is an organization that works to fight antisemitism.
He said that the ADL unjustly attacks the majority of the West, despite them being the ones who support the Jewish people and Israel. Musk claimed that this was because they could not criticize the minority groups who are their primary threat.
In response to being shown the posts, DeSantis said that he had "no idea what the context is" and noted that he would not "pass judgment on the fly." However, he did say that he stands against antisemitism "across the board," according to The Guardian.
Antisemitism in US
DeSantis added that he knows Musk, noting that he has never seen the businessman do anything and that he is a guy who believes in America. The Florida governor said that he has not seen Musk indulge in any of those things, adding that it would be surprising if it were true.
Various critics have also accused the Republican lawmaker of being slow to condemn rallies by neo-Nazis in his state. Some of these individuals were seen carrying flags with the words: "This is DeSantis country."
The antisemitic conspiracy theory has been espoused by online hate groups and echoed by Robert Bowers. The latter is the convicted killer of 11 worshippers at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh in 2018. It was considered to be the deadliest attack against Jews in the history of the United States.
Last month, the ADL said that antisemitic incidents in the U.S. have increased by 388% in the weeks following the Hamas militant group's attack on Israel on Oct. 7. The Council on American-Islamic Relations has also observed an increase in reports following the attack but did not have specific numbers to release, said CNN.
