Elon Musk: I Will Say What I Want Even if It Loses Me Money

During an interview on CNBC, Elon Musk defended his right to say inflammatory things on Twitter, even if those statements lose him money. He appeared to disassociate briefly after being asked why even bother tweeting. {snip}

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The interview came after a particular troubling run of tweets for Musk, in which he promoted conspiracy theories about a mass shooting in Texas, was accused of antisemitism after claiming that George Soros “hates humanity,” and retweeted discredited theories about crime and race.

After a series of mostly softball questions about Tesla and time management, CNBC’s David Farmer asked why he tweets conspiracy theories and makes statements that have been criticized as racist and anti-semitic, especially when they could lose him customers and hurt the companies he runs.

After an extremely long and uncomfortable pause, Musk referenced the scene from the 1987 movie The Princess Bride, in which Mandy Patinkin’s Inigo Montoya character confronts the man who killed his father.

“He says, ‘Offer me money. Offer me power,’” Musk said. “‘I don’t care.’”

“You just don’t care,” Faber replied, to which Musk just stared at him. “You want to share what you have to say.”

Eventually, Musk said, “I’ll say what I what to say, and if the consequences are losing money, so be it.”

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