Electric car maker Tesla CEO Elon Musk meets with French Minister for the Economy and Finances on ... [+]
Elon Musk shared a quote supposedly from French philosopher Voltaire on Saturday to make a joke about kids with leukemia. But the quote has frequently been debunked as something Voltaire never actually said. In reality, the quote is from a neo-Nazi who said it in 1993.
“To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize,” the viral quote, shared by Musk, says.
The quote also includes text at the bottom making a joke about being unable to criticize “children with leukemia.”
The fake Voltaire quote is often shared by members of extremist groups on Twitter who argue Jewish people control the world, an anti-semitic conspiracy theory. And there’s a reason it’s a popular quote with those kinds of people. The quote doesn’t come from Voltaire at all, and instead was uttered by neo-Nazi Kevin Alfred Strom in a radio broadcast from 1993, according to the Associated Press.
Twitter is awash in fake quotes, including many that Musk himself seems to help amplify. Recently, Musk liked a fake quote from Mark Twain reading, “The truth has no defense against a fool determined to believe a lie.” Twain never actually said that.
Musk received criticism after sharing the quote on Saturday afternoon, with journalist and commentator Matt Yglesias tweeting, “When are we getting a fourteen words tweet?”
The “fourteen words” refers to yet another white supremacist meme that’s popular among Nazis on Twitter which reads, “We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children.”
Musk has gotten criticism in the past for racist remarks but repeatedly denies any claims of racism. Back in February, Musk defended cartoonist Scott Adams after the Dilbert creator made a video advocating for racial segregation. But Musk said it was the newspapers who dropped the Dilbert comic strip who were the real racists.
More recently, Musk has amplified voices on the far right, including recently ousted Fox News host Tucker Carlson. Musk sat down with Carlson for an interview not long before the media personality was fired and Carlson has even promised he’ll start doing his show on Twitter. Carlson has yet to follow-up on that promise, probably because he’s still bound by a non-compete clause through January 2025 that his lawyers are still trying to get him out of.
Twitter responded to questions Saturday morning with a poop emoji, an automated response set up by Musk that goes out to all reporters. I’ll update this article if I hear back from the social media company with anything of substance.
