Dem
51
GOP
49
Shortly after Elon Musk endorsed an antisemitic tweet on Twitter (X), IBM announced it was going to suspend advertising on the site. Then Disney, Lionsgate, Paramount, NBCUniversal, Comcast, Warner Bros. Discovery, Apple and the European Union followed suit. Activists are trying to get other companies to join in the boycott. These decisions will cost Musk millions of dollars. Of course when you are losing billions of dollars monthly by destroying a property you paid $44 billion for, millions don't even register.
Jewish groups have compared the tweet Musk endorsed to "The Great Replacement Theory," which right-wing groups are pushing. It says that Democrats are trying to replace white European-Americans with brown minorities. The White House also chimed in. White House spokesman Andrew Bates said it was "unacceptable to repeat the hideous lie behind the most fatal act of antisemitism in American history at any time, let alone one month after the deadliest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust." Various civil rights groups have also condemned Musk.
On the other hand, Ron DeSantis has refused to say anything about the post. He said: "I did not see the comment." A profile in courage this is not.
The company's CEO, Linda Yaccarino, tried to stanch the bleeding by saying: "X is a platform for everyone." Nice try, but don't expect to see Apple back next week. What she needs to do, of course, is take Musk's phone and computer away from him and lock them in a safe somewhere. But that seems unlikely.
And wait, it gets worse. Musk has threatened a "thermonuclear" lawsuit against Media Matters, a progressive research and information center. Winning a defamation lawsuit is tough, as that requires showing the defaming statement is false and whoever said it knew it and didn't care. (V)