(Bloomberg) — Elon Musk deleted a controversial tweet that made a satirical comparison between Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Adolf Hitler.
Musk, the chief executive officer of Tesla Inc. and the world’s richest person, did not respond to a request for comment. A spokesperson for Twitter said the social-media company “did not take enforcement action” on the tweet.
Musk, 50, was replying to a post by cryptocurrency trade publication CoinDesk about Trudeau’s emergency orders aimed at cutting off funds to protesters who have blocked border crossings and camped out in Canada’s capital. Musk tweeted a photo of Hitler with the text “Stop comparing me to Justin Trudeau” at the top, and “I had a budget” at the bottom.
The tweet generated backlash from groups such as the American Jewish Committee, an advocacy organization, which called on Musk to apologize for making reference to the dictator who oversaw the genocide of millions.
“Once again, Elon Musk has exercised extremely poor judgment by invoking Hitler to make a point on social media,” the group said in a statement earlier Thursday. “He must stop this unacceptable behavior.”
The controversy comes as Tesla faces complaints over racial discrimination and harassment. California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing sued Tesla last week for racial discrimination and harassment after finding a widespread pattern of mistreatment of Black workers at the electric car-maker’s factory near San Francisco.
Musk rarely deletes tweets, but it’s not unprecedented for him. He deleted a tweet almost a year ago that indicated he believed Tesla might be on track to become the biggest company in the U.S.
(Upates with comment from Twitter in second paragraph.)
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