As attacks on trans people continue to gain stream nationwide, Elon Musk is going all in on transphobic fearmongering on Twitter.
Last week, he spent several hours replying to transphobic tweets. He made a now-deleted transphobic comment about Taylor Swift, suggesting that she’s Napoleon Dynamite in disguise.
He responded with an exclamation point to a tweet claiming, without evidence, that Megan Fox is forcing her children to dress in girl’s clothing against their will. The tweet called Fox’s kids’ gender expression “pure child abuse.”
He responded with the words “Not good” to a Libs of Tiktok post condemning Joe Biden for speaking out against gender-affirming care ban in Florida. Libs of Tiktok, run by Chaya Raichik, is an account known for spreading transphobic bigotry and encouraging violence against LGBTQ+ communities.
Finally, Musk responded with an exclamation point to a tweet calling actor and writer Elliot Page, who came out as trans in 2020, “psychotic.” In a Los Angeles Times article, Page described his realization that he was trans as a “voice in his head.” The tweet took the phrase literally, despite it being a very common way to describe intuition.
Musk’s replies to transphobic tweets do more than just show his own personal support of transphobes and transphobia. With over 143 million followers, Musk’s replies give accounts like these unprecedented reach, pushing them further into mainstream conversations.
Plus, these tweets aren’t Musk’s first foray into transphobia. When Pride Month began, Musk promoted Matt Walsh’s transphobic film, What is a Woman? and tweeted that “Every parent should watch this,” despite previously banning the video for its hateful content. Musk also hosted Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’s campaign announcement on May 25, after promoting Tucker Carlson’s new Twitter-based talkshow on May 9. Notably, Musk himself has a trans daughter, who disowned him when she turned 18.
(featured image: Michael Gonzalez/Getty Images)
