Elon Musk tries out the some-of-my-best-friends defense

Elon "Pedo Guy" Musk sat for an extended interview with The Economist editor-in-chief Zanny Minton Beddoes and encountered the unfamiliar hazard of follow-up questions.

Beddoes challenged the gap between Musk's promised AI utopia and his fixation on immigrants and Europe's supposed decline. When she noted that many people consider him racist, Musk pointed to Shivon Zilis and their children.

"My partner is half Indian, and I have four children with her," the self-proclaimed Teknoking said. He added that one child was named for an Indian physicist and that his companies employ senior executives "of all races."

Beddoes then asked whether he was anti-Muslim. Musk did not simply say no. Instead, he said he opposed people entering a country with beliefs he considers "antithetical to 'Western beliefs.'"

Having a partner, children, or employees of another race does not answer a question about your own words and politics. It does provide a familiar dodge.

By the end, Musk was so agitated by facing real questions that he just resorted to whining about how awful the media can be. He seemed to think that his popularity on X, the platform he owns, was evidence that most people actually love him.

"A quarter billion people follow me," Musk said, referring to his X followers, adding "I think a lot more people actually like me than don't." The billionaire then said that "a lot more people hate you and the media more than you realize."Gizmondo

The "some of my best servants are non-white" defense remains undefeated.

Previously:
• Elon Musk threatens to buy D&D after company removes racist content
• Drug-using Musk relies on casual racism in Lemon interview
• Elon Musk deeply concerned that robots can be programmed to not be racist
• Twitter loses World Bank ads over pro-Nazi content placement