WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis is refusing to sentence Elon Musk ‘s submit endorsing an antisemitic conspiracy principle, sustaining Sunday that he wasn’t conversant in the submit regardless of it prompting main corporations to drag promoting from the billionaire’s X social media platform.
“I didn’t see the remark,” DeSantis, the governor of Florida, mentioned on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “And so, I do know that Elon has had a goal on his again ever since he bought Twitter as a result of I believe he’s taking it in a route that lots of people who’re used to controlling the narrative don’t like.”
Musk has sparked outcry with a latest tweet responding to a consumer who accused Jews of hating white individuals and for professing a common indifference to antisemitism. “You may have mentioned the precise reality,” Musk tweeted in a reply Wednesday.
IBM, Disney and different main advertisers have since pulled funding from X, a significant blow because the platform previously generally known as Twitter tries to win again massive manufacturers and their advert {dollars} that represent its major income.
DeSantis introduced his presidential bid on Musk’s platform, at the same time as some analysis exhibits it has develop into a haven for hate speech for the reason that billionaire took over the corporate final 12 months. “State of the Union” put Musk’s submit on the display and host Jake Tapper learn it to DeSantis earlier than urgent him to sentence it — however the governor continued to demur.
“I do know you tried to learn it. I do not know what the context is,” mentioned DeSantis who was becoming a member of the present by way of videoconference . “I do know Elon Musk. I’ve by no means seen him do something. I believe he’s a man that believes in America. I’ve by no means seen him bask in any of that. So it’s stunning, if that’s true, however I’ve not seen it. So I don’t need to sit there and cross judgment on the fly.”
The governor additionally mentioned he opposes antisemitism “throughout the board,” regardless of if it comes from the proper or left of the ideological spectrum.
“It’s mistaken it doesn’t matter what,” DeSantis mentioned.
The submit has drawn criticism from the White Home, the place spokesperson Andrew Bates mentioned final week that, “It’s unacceptable to repeat the hideous lie behind probably the most deadly act of antisemitism in American historical past at any time, not to mention one month after the deadliest day for the Jewish individuals for the reason that Holocaust.”
That referred to Hamas’ lethal assault on Israel, which occurred on Oct. 7.
Showing on Tapper’s present in particular person instantly after DeSantis, Maryland Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin mentioned it wasn’t credible to imagine that somebody operating for president didn’t see Musk’s submit: “That is 4 days later and he has not had an opportunity to learn what Elon Musk wrote?”
“That could be very exhausting for me to imagine,” Raskin mentioned. “In any occasion you confirmed it to him, and he nonetheless refused to sentence it.”
“For those who’re serous about condemning and confronting antisemitism and racism and these bigotries, that are the gateways to destruction of liberal democracy, you’ve received to be specific and open and full-throated about it,” Raskin added “and also you’ve received to denounce the antisemitism and racism throughout the board.”
Raskin himself referred to as the submit “outrageous and harmful,” and prompt that he and different members of the Home deliberate to jot down to Musk “to ask him to resign these feedback and to scrub up his act.”
