The Twitter CEO responded to an antisemitic conspiracy theory post, giving it legitimacy and views
Twitter CEO Elon Musk boosted an antisemitic blood libel on Twitter on Wednesday, replying to a tweet offering a choice between using blood taken from children, linked to an image of U.S. President Joe Biden, or hating Jews, referencing a picture of actor Mel Gibson, who has made antisemitic tirades in the past.
An account known as TopLobsta tweeted: "you can do adrenochrome or you can hate the Js. Which way western men."
The J in "hate the Js" stands for Jews. "Which Way, Western
Man?" is both the title of a 1978 book by white supremacist author William
Gayley Simpson and an antisemitic meme.
Adrenochrome, a real
chemical compound produced by the oxidation of adrenaline, has been co-opted
as a fictionalized drug by the QAnon conspiracy theory, which posits that
“satanic,” “globalist” and/or "Hollywood” elites harvest adrenal glands from
trafficked children as a life-extending or psychedelic drug. It is a 21st
century medicalized version of the blood libel.
Musk replied to
the tweet with: "Gibson is really that buff these days?" TopLobsta then
replied with a fictional Mel Gibson workout plan parodying antisemitism,
tweeting "3x10 ADL reprimandation 5x5 holocaust denials 7x3 rabbi
bashing."
QAnon's blood libel of trafficking children is rooted in the
debunked claim spread throughout social media that an Italian sculpture
depicts the alleged murder of 2-year-old Simon of Trent in the 15th century.
Jewish residents were falsely blamed for conducting a ritual killing before
being tortured into giving false confessions leading to their execution.
Pope Paul VI decreed in 1965 that the town's Jewish residents had nothing to
do with his death and the whole affair was a fraud.
Both the
affair itself, and the claim that the statue in question depicts the alleged
affair, have both been proven historically inaccurate, though this has not
stopped the antisemitic conspiracy theory from being propagated on social
media — and now elevated by among the world's most famous men.
Musk's
engagement with the blatantly antisemitic blood libel comes days after the
entrepreneur, who has been increasingly scrutinized in recent weeks for
invoking antisemitic tropes and conspiracy theories targeting Jewish
billionaire George Soros, earned plaudits from Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu after the two discussed the potential of artificial intelligence
technology.
In a tweeted video statement in Hebrew, the prime
minister called Musk, who owns Twitter, "a man whose wisdom and contribution
to humanity I very much admire." This conversation followed Israel’s Health
Ministry denouncing Musk’s affirmation of a conspiracy theory that played
down coronavirus mortality among young people.
"Zero," Musk
repeated in reference to a tweet by Zero Hedge, a far-right libertarian blog
site that purportedly cited Israeli data that “zero young healthy
individuals died of COVID-19.” The Health Ministry called the assertion
"fake news."
