Elon Musk Deletes Tweet Comparing Justin Trudeau to Hitler
Photo by PATRICK PLEUL/POOL/AFP via Getty Images.
Following a major backlash, billionaire Tesla founder and CEO Elon Musk has deleted his tweet comparing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to Adolf Hitler.
Musk’s now-deleted tweet was in response to Trudeau’s handling of truckers blocking traffic as part of the ongoing protests that have locked down Ottawa and blocked a major international trade route. The massive protest is directed at Canada’s coronavirus measures, including its vaccine mandates.
This week, Trudeau took emergency action in response to the blockades.
Musk posted a meme showing a picture of Hitler. The top of the meme read, “Stop comparing me to Justin Trudeau” while the bottom reads “I had a budget.”
Anti-Defamation League CEO and national director, who earlier in the day joined the chorus condemning Musk, tweeted appreciation for the tweet being deleted.
Glad @elonmusk deleted his offensive tweet. Holocaust comparisons are dangerous – it is all our responsibilities to ensure the history of the #Holocaust is not forgotten or trivialized. The stakes are too high. https://t.co/ISR56e4KBo
— Jonathan Greenblatt (@JGreenblattADL) February 17, 2022
While Musk, who is critical of coronavirus protocols such as vaccine mandates, has yet to apologize, he appeared to address the now-deleted tweet in a cryptic Twitter thread.
“Reasons to hate are remembered better than reasons to love,” he tweeted. “An evolutionary asymmetry helpful to survival, but counterproductive when survival is not at stake.”
An evolutionary asymmetry helpful to survival, but counterproductive when survival is not at stake
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 17, 2022
On Wednesday, Trudeau attacked a Jewish member of the Canadian Parliament who slammed the prime minister’s handling of the trucker blockades and lumped her in with those “who wave swastikas.”
“If Canadians are to trust their government, their government needs to trust Canadians. Those are the words of the prime minister in 2015. These people, very often misogynistic, racist, women-haters, science deniers, the fringe,” said Conservative MP Melissa Lantsman during a session of parliament. “Same prime minister, six years later as he fans the flames of an unjustified national emergency. Mr. Speaker, when did the prime minister lose his way and when did it happen?”
“Mr. Speaker, Conservative Party members can stand with people who wave swastikas. They can stand with people who wave the Confederate flag,” responded Trudeau. “We will choose to stand with Canadians who deserve to be able to get to their jobs, who deserve to be able to get their lives back. These illegal protests need to stop and they will.”
Later on, when Trudeau had left the chamber, Lantsman fired back at the prime minister.
“I am a strong Jewish woman and a member of this House and a descendant of Holocaust survivors and … [I’ve] never been singled out and I have never been made to feel less,” she said. “Except for today, when the prime minister accused me of standing with swastikas. I think he owes me an apology. I’d like an apology and I think he owes an apology to all members of this House.”
Trudeau has yet to apologize.
