“Real Time” host Bill Maher scolded billionaire X owner Elon Musk over his post last month that spiraled into a major controversy, saying it looked “really antisemitic.”
Maher, who was overwhelmingly supportive of Musk’s takeover of the platform formerly known as Twitter, brought up the tech tycoon’s recent visit to Israel during his “Overtime” segment on Friday, asking the panel whether he no longer held “antisemitic or conspiratorial beliefs.”
“The Rubin Report” host Dave Rubin pushed back at the question by insisting Musk had never held “antisemitic or conspiratorial beliefs,” later defending him by saying his post on X was meant for left-wing Jewish groups like the Anti-Defamation League (ADL).
“There’s a lot of antisemites out there, but Elon Musk is not one of them,” Rubin said.
“That may be true,” Maher responded. “Look, he’s a hard guy to follow all the time. I’ve tried. And this thing did test my patience with him because he may not be an antisemite, but when someone tweets what they tweeted and he tweets ‘You’ve spoken the actual truth,’ it looks really antisemitic. I mean, come on.”
Musk has been under fire in recent weeks for appearing to endorse what’s been widely labeled an antisemitic post on X.
The post from an X user read, “Jewish communities have been pushing the exact kind of dialectical hatred against whites that they claim to want people to stop using against them. I’m deeply disinterested in giving the tiniest s— now about western Jewish populations coming to the disturbing realization that those hordes of minorities that support flooding their country don’t exactly like them too much. You want truth said to your face, there it is.”
Musk replied, “You have said the actual truth.”
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He later clarified he was referring to the ADL over its progressive politics, writing “The ADL unjustly attacks the majority of the West, despite the majority of the West supporting the Jewish people and Israel. This is because they cannot, by their own tenets, criticize the minority groups who are their primary threat.”
But that didn’t stop his critics from leveling antisemitism charges against him and attacking his social media platform for not cracking down on antisemitic rhetoric.
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In addition, major advertisers including IBM, Apple, Disney, Lionsgate and Paramount have fled X after the liberal advocacy group Media Matters published a report alleging their ads were appearing alongside antisemitic content.
However, a lawsuit filed against Media Matters by Musk alleged the group “completely misrepresented the real user experience” in order to mislead advertisers.
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At Wednesday’s appearance at The New York Times Dealbook Summit, Musk offered harsh words to the companies that boycotted X.
“Don’t advertise. If someone is going to try and blackmail me with advertising? Blackmail me with money? Go f— yourself,” Musk said, adding: “Go f— yourself, is that clear? Hey Bob, if you’re in the audience. That’s how I feel, don’t advertise.”
That was in response to Disney CEO Bob Iger, who earlier at the event defended his company’s decision to no longer advertise on X.
