On November 19, Sunday, CNN's Jake Tapper took Ron DeSantis' interview for a show called State of the Union. There, DeSantis was asked if he would denounce Musk for having allegedly publicly supported the antisemitic conspiracy theory that is prevalent among White supremacists.
Apparently, according to the theory, the Jews are planning to replace the White Americans with immigrants from other races. This is in context to the comment of Musk that he left under a tweet that supported this theory.
However, although the tweet caused big businesses to remove their advertisements from X, DeSantis responded by saying that he had never heard of it.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis further claimed that since Elon bought Twitter, DeSantis believed that he has been the subject of a lot of criticism because he's moving the platform in a way that many people who are accustomed to controlling the narrative find objectionable.
DeSantis then went on to say:
“I was a big supporter of him purchasing Twitter”.
Ron DeSantis recently defended Elon Musk for his alleged antisemitic tweet
In a recent tweet, Musk commented on an X user, @breakingbaht's, post that read:
“Jewish communities (sic) have been pushing the exact kind of dialectical hatred against whites that they claim to want people to stop using against them”.
This was in the context of another video that was uploaded on X by @CWBOCA, with a caption:
"To the cowards hiding behind the anonymity of the internet and posting "Hitler was right": You got something you want to say? Why dont you say it to our faces…"
As a response to the tweet on Wednesday, Elon Musk tweeted:
"You have stated the actual truth."
The article also mentioned the widely held antisemitic conspiracy myth about "hordes of minorities" invading Western nations. Furthermore, the comment of Musk appeared to have been reported as an antisemitic post, leading several prominent advertisers to withdraw from the social media network.
In the same context, CNN's Jake Tapper showed the X post to DeSantis on Sunday on the channel's program State of the Union. Then when questioned by Tapper about the same, the governor of Florida supported Musk and described him as a man who had faith in America.
Ron DeSantis initially informed Tapper that he would not "pass judgment on the fly" and that he had not seen Musk’s remark. However, he later added that since acquiring the platform, Musk has had a "target on his back”.
The rest of DeSantis' statement was devoted to praising Musk as a champion of free speech. Additionally, he labeled several other well-known right-wingers who have expressed antisemitic views as "fringe voices".
After Tapper disputed the same label, pointing out that Musk and other right-wing politicians have sizable followings, Ron DeSantis changed the topic and started mentioning colleges rather than Musk.
When Tapper subsequently inquired about DeSantis' concerns over antisemitism on the political right, DeSantis replied, "across the board”.
DeSantis, whose campaign for the Republican 2024 nomination continues to crater, further said that since he bought Twitter, Elon has been under attack because, in his opinion, he's moving the platform in a way that many people who are accustomed to dominating the narrative don't like.
Ron DeSantis then continued:
“I know Elon Musk. I’ve never seen him do anything. I think he’s a guy that believes in America, I’ve never seen him indulge in any of that. So it’s surprising if that’s true”.
Elon Musk has been contacted by news organizations like CNN and NBC, but he has not yet responded.