Facebook Cofounder Calls on Elon Musk to Resign Over Tweet
- Dustin Moskovitz called for Elon Musk to resign after he agreed with an antisemitic post.
- Musk replied to a post that accused Jewish groups of “hatred against whites,” calling it the “actual truth.”
- Musk has also threatened to sue the ADL after it reported a rise in hate speech on X.
Facebook cofounder and Asana CEO Dustin Moskovitz said Elon Musk should resign after Musk called an antisemitic post on X the “actual truth.”
“I call on Elon Musk to resign,” Moskovitz said Wednesday in a post on Threads.
He later posted that Musk should resign “(from everything).” The Tesla CEO has a hand in six companies, including SpaceX and X, formerly known as Twitter.
Moskovitz’s comments came after a Wednesday exchange on X in which a user called for an end to antisemitism.
Another user on X made an antisemitic comment in response to the post, saying that “Jewish communities” had been pushing “hatred against whites.” The user said western Jewish people had been supporting “hordes of minorities” flooding their countries — and now had come to the “disturbing realization” that those minorities didn’t like them too much.
“You have said the actual truth,” Musk wrote in response to the antisemitic post.
The post echoes the “great replacement theory” that many white supremacists subscribe to. It contends that non-white immigrants to the US and other western countries are replacing white populations. The theory is oftentimes invoked against Jewish supporters of immigration.
Musk faced swift backlash
The response to Musk’s apparent support of a user who supports such a racist theory was swift.
Tesla investor Ross Gerber said he planned to replace his Model Y with a Rivian as a result of Musk’s comment.
“Getting a flood of messages from clients wanting out of tesla and anything to do with Elon Musk,” Gerber wrote on X. “Many saying they are selling their cars as well. What is he doing to the tesla brand???!!?!?”
Wavelength cofounder Marc Bodnick posted screenshots of Musk’s remark to X and wrote, “Elon’s antisemitism is still shocking.”
Matt Blaze, McDevitt Professor of Computer Science and Law at Georgetown, said in a post on Mastodon that “Musk’s latest unfiltered reveal of his character (anti-semitism edition this time around) makes it all the more unfortunate that some communities still haven’t moved off Twitter/X/whateveritis.”
CNN anchor and New York Times bestselling author Jake Tapper said on Threads that Musk was “pushing unvarnished anti semitism at a time of rising antisemitism and violence against Jews.”
Kara Swisher, a tech journalist and podcaster who has reported on Musk for years, said Musk is “promoting hate.” “There is a difference between free speech and speech designed to hurt people,” Swisher said.
In a series of posts on X later Wednesday, Musk took digs at the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), a group that the billionaire threatened to sue in September after the ADL documented a rise in hate speech on X since Musk’s takeover.
“At the risk of being repetitive, I am deeply offended by ADL’s messaging and any other groups who push de facto anti-white racism or anti-Asian racism or racism of any kind,” Musk later wrote on X. “I’m sick of it. Stop now.”
Musk also said his comments didn’t “extend to all Jewish communities, but it is also not just limited to ADL.”
Musk and Moskovitz did not immediately respond to a request for comment ahead of publication.
A spokesperson for ADL referred Insider to a post from ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt on X.
“At a time when antisemitism is exploding in America and surging around the world, it is indisputably dangerous to use one’s influence to validate and promote antisemitic theories,” Greenblatt wrote on X.
Greenblatt has previously said that Musk’s behavior is “dangerous and deeply irresponsible.”
“We need responsible leaders to lead, to stop inflaming hatred, and to step back from the brink before it’s too late,” Greenblatt said in September.
In September, Musk pushed back against criticism around antisemitism on X. During a conversation lasting more than an hour hosted by Ben Shapiro on X in September, Musk said he couldn’t be antisemitic because he’s “aspirationally Jewish” and has been to Israel.
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) told Insider earlier this month that the non-profit organization has recorded a nearly 400% increase in antisemitic incidents across the US, including reported assaults, harassment and vandalism, since Hamas launched terrorist attacks on Israel in October.
ADL recorded a total of 312 antisemitic incidents between October 7 and October 23, 190 of which it said were directly linked to the Israel-Hamas war. Since the October 7 attacks, the ADL recorded 54 antisemitic incidents on school campuses, 43 of which the organization said could also be directly linked to the war.
It’s not the first time Moskovitz has been critical of Musk. He called Tesla and SpaceX “scams” that Musk got away with earlier this year.
