Elon Musk has been the center of attention through his controversial remarks since he became active on X (formerly Twitter).
From politics to tech, conspiracy theories to wars, Elon always had something to say through his posts, which didn’t always sit quite well with most users. While he has made headlines for several posts, the following 12 are the most controversial.
Promoting Antisemitic Conspiracy Theory
Elon garnered a lot of attention and backlash for openly endorsing an antisemitic conspiracy theory on X. According to the theory, Jewish communities intentionally push hatred against whites. His post also referenced ‘hordes of minorities’ coming in massive numbers to Western countries, which is another conspiracy theory targeted at mass immigration to outnumber the white population.
While these conspiracy theories are popular among white supremacists, they significantly make people of other ethnic backgrounds a target for racist attacks and hatred.
Bashing Pandemic Lockdowns
Elon didn’t like the idea of governments issuing stay-at-home orders. He thought pandemic lockdowns were fascist and similar to ‘forcibly imprisoning people’ in their homes. Hence, he shared numerous tweets that downplayed the crisis magnitude and asked to end stay-at-home policies.
In one tweet, he said ‘FREE AMERICA NOW.’ His tweets created a massive controversy because they were considered irresponsible and could jeopardize people’s health.
Jab at Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift is known for her fierce political activism. She expressed her support for Kamala Harris through her Instagram post, and signed it off with ‘Taylor Swift, Childress Cat Lady.’ Elon Musk responded to this message on his X handle and stated he would give Taylor a child and protect her cats with his life. This remark outraged several users, with some labeling it ‘sexual harassment.’
‘Ukraine Peace Plan’ Poll
While everyone wished the Ukraine-Russia war to end as soon as possible, Elon Musk took it to X to suggest a solution to end the conflict. Elon created a poll on X asking its followers to vote on whether elections should be held in annexed regions under the UN’s supervision.
The tweet wasn’t received positively by many, including Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky. He received severe criticism from Ukrainians for this tweet.
Mocking Pronouns
Musk has never been a fan of people using pronouns and it’s evident from the posts he shares on X. While he openly shares his views unapologetically, a series of posts dissing pronouns got him into serious trouble.
In July 2020, Musk shared a tweet stating ‘Pronouns suck.’ This two-worded tweet received massive viewership and attracted heavy backlash, even from his girlfriend Claire Boucher. It was considered a mocking criticism of the widely used gender-neutral pronouns designed to promote inclusivity.
Calling a British Diver the ‘Pedo Guy’
Elon Musk found himself in a huge controversy when he called Vernon Unsworth, a British diver, a ‘Pedo Guy.’ Elon and Vernon engaged in a war of words online after the diver termed Elon’s offer to save a soccer team that got stuck in a Thailand cave a ‘PR stunt.’
Their heated exchange led to Elon calling Vernon a ‘Pedo Guy,’ which attracted a $190 million defamation case. Elon, however, ended up winning the defamation case.
Adding Fuel to Pizzagate Fire
In a now-deleted tweet, Elon Musk was criticized for promoting the fringe, far-right conspiracy theory that top Democratic Party members were allegedly running child abuse rings from a Washington pizzeria.
The tweet stated ‘does seem at least a little suspicious’ on a meme where characters were arguing that ‘Pizzagate is real.’ While he deleted the meme later, it wasn’t his only tweet on this matter.
Interference in the Russia-Ukraine War
During the Russia-Ukraine tension, Kyiv sent an official request to Elon Musk to activate Starlink to Sevastopol. Elon Musk responded to a tweet stating he did not honor this request because activating Starlink in the said region would have made SpaceX officially complicit in a major act of war. It wasn’t received well on X, and a senior Ukrainian official even accused him of ‘committing evil.’
Endorsing Far-Right German Political Party
Elon frequently shares his unfiltered opinions on world political matters. Recently, he found himself surrounded by controversy after endorsing AfD, Germany’s far-right political party. He tweeted that AfD is the only party capable of saving Germany. It quickly attracted mass criticism from people across the political spectrum. Some even accused him of election interference and promoting extremism before the elections scheduled in February 2025.
Challenging Mark Zuckerberg to a Cage Match
In a bizarre event, Elon challenged Mark Zuckerberg (Meta’s CEO) to an offline cage fight. It started when Elon took a dig at the world coming under Zuck’s thumb after Meta’s launch announcement of Threads, X’s competitor. When a user jokingly warned Musk about Zuck’s jiu-jitsu training, he responded with his readiness for a cage fight.
Sharing Baseless Claims about Paul Pelosi
Elon was once again in the limelight for spreading misinformation and conspiracy theories. This time, his tweet promoted baseless claims about the violent attack on Paul Pelosi, Nancy Pelosi’s husband. In response to Hilary Clinton’s tweet blaming the Republican Party for the attack, Elon shared an article link full of baseless claims about the attack. The article belonged to a random news website that was found to peddle fake news several times.
Questioning Lack of Assassination Attempts for Biden/Kamala
The internet was abuzz with the news of assassination attempts made on Donald Trump. Joining the conversation, Elon tweeted ‘And no one is trying to assassinate Biden/Kamala.’ This tweet received severe backlash as it questioned the lack of attempt made in the assassination of the current American President, Joe Biden, and Vice-President Kamala Harris. He soon deleted the tweet, later clarifying it was a joke.
