"Ghost of Henry Ford" - Ford Motor's Israel tweet controversy explained as internet reacts to social media scandal 

On December 30, Ford Motor Company's X account made a series of posts showing their solidarity for Palestine amid the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict. Phrases like “Free Palestine,” “Israel is a terrorist state” and, “ALL EYES ON GAZA,” were shared on the platform.

Disclaimer: This article mentions the Israel-Palestine conflict and has references to antisemitism. Discretion is advised.

Ford Motor Company claimed that its X account had been “hacked” for some time on Monday and the tweets were soon taken down. However, social media users took screenshots of the posts and circulated them online.

In the wake of this tweet drama, netizens are now having diverse reactions. For instance, X user Jon Stevens aka @Duttyman45 commented on investor Geiger Capital’s post on the same and implied that the seemingly controversial tweets were the doing of founder Henry Ford’s ghost.

“Ghost of Henry Ford,” the user wrote.

Many people joined in on the conversation and shared similar reactions on the platform.

“No this is very on-brand the ghost of Henry Ford might be doing it,” a netizen quipped.

“Henry Ford posting from the grave?” another netizen wrote.

Others continued to chime in and implied that it could have been done by one of their junior employees who has been put in charge of social media.

“Ford social media intern from Dearborn, Michigan forgot to switch accounts…” a person wrote.

“Steve. Could you come up to HR and bring your laptop and keys with you,” one person wrote.

“Well, that internship is over!” wrote another.

More reactions followed as the discussion continued.

“Are you sure it wasn’t AI posting that after reading Henry Ford’s literature?” an individual asked.

“Trying to move in on Toyota’s market,” a user wrote.

Ford Motor Company addressed the scandal via an email statement to CBS News Detroit.

“Our X account was briefly compromised and the previous three posts were not authorized or posted by Ford... We are investigating the issue, and apologize for any confusion caused,” it read.

They also added that the posts "do not represent the views" of the company. In November, the car giant’s socials were hacked by EnergyWeaponUser, and confidential records of 44,000 customers worldwide were publicly released, including their names, addresses, and purchase details such as account codes and sales type.

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Exploring Ford Motor Company’s complicated history with Israel

Henry Ford, the founding father of Ford Motor Company was reportedly antisemitic and was known to spread conspiracy theories about Jewish people, Israel, and even about African-Americans.

In fact, between 1920 and 1925, the automobile magnate ran a newspaper titled, The Dearborn Independent that published weekly articles on the front page under the column heading, “The International Jew: The World’s Problem,” as per the History Channel.

The struggling paper published hoaxes surrounding the Jews which continued for a few years and were sold at Ford dealerships across the USA. Later, certain articles even found places in pamphlets.

Not only that, Nazi leader Adolf Hitler even mentioned Henry Ford in his book Mein Kampf and offered his compliments for “spreading antisemitic sentiment.” Germany under Hitler even awarded Ford the Grand Cross of the German Eagle in 1938, which was the nation’s highest honor for foreigners.

However, when California attorney Aaron Sapiro sued Henry for his antisemitism in June 1927, the latter issued a letter of apology. Meanwhile, the libel lawsuit ended in a mistrial after alleged jury tampering and negative press. Notably, years later it was revealed that Ford only signed the letter that was originally penned by American Jewish Committee President Louis Marshall.

However, over the years, Ford Motor Company has provided armored vehicles to the Israeli military such as the SandCat Tigris 4×4. The Ford Foundation has also sent humanitarian help to Israel and the Gaza Strip in recent times.