In an interview that his loudest, Twitter Blue-subscribing supporters have probably deemed “epic,” Elon Musk said that he doesn’t care if his bad-take tweets, like a recent one where he compared businessman George Soros to X-Men character Magneto, scare away potential Twitter advertisers.
“I’ll say what I want, and if the consequence of that is losing money, so be it,” he told CNBC’s David Faber on Tuesday. When Faber pressed on another tweet with “anti-Semitic overtones” about Soros (“He wants to erode the very fabric of civilization. Soros hates humanity”), Musk huffily replied, “I’m a pro-Semite, if anything.” Sounds like someone just watched 21 Jump Street.
Musk has previously criticized Soros, whose family office, Soros Fund Management, recently cut its stake in Tesla. Soros, who is also Jewish, is a favorite target of right wing pundits and politicians and often the subject of anti-Semitic attacks. Soros and his family escaped the Nazis during World War II.
If, hypothetically speaking, new Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino asked Musk to stop tweeting about delusional conspiracy theories, would he? Musk considered the question in one of the longest, most uncomfortable pauses I’ve ever seen in a TV interview before answering… with a quote from The Princess Bride. “You know, I’m reminded of,” he said, “there’s a scene in The Princess Bride — great movie — where he confronts the person who killed his father and he says, ‘Offer me money, offer me power, I don’t care.’”
At least he didn’t scream “I’m Pickle Rick, bitch” and run off screen?
Here’s an unedited clip (the pause is real) of Elon Musk quoting Princess Bride in response to advertisers not enjoying his antisemitic tweets / enabling of fascists:
“Offer me money, offer me power, I don’t care.” pic.twitter.com/PzHlX1kw6i
— Nick Butler
(@NickButler) May 16, 2023
(Via Mediaite)