“I’m aspirationally Jewish,” Musk said. “So I was like, ‘What are people talking about with this antisemitism?’ Because I never hear it at dinner conversations."

Elon Musk said he is “Jewish by association” during a conversation with conservative commentator Ben Shapiro after a visit to the former Nazi concentration camp in Auschwitz, Poland.

Musk, the Tesla CEO and owner of social media platform X, made the comments during a conference on antisemitism organized by the European Jewish Association. The association had arranged for Musk to make a private visit to Auschwitz, where an estimated 1.1 million Jewish people were killed during the Holocaust.

“I must admit to being somewhat frankly naive about this. In the circles that I move, I see almost no antisemitism. … Two-thirds of my friends are Jewish,” the billionaire tech mogul said in a video posted on YouTube by Bloomberg Technology. “I have twice as many Jewish friends as non-Jewish friends. I’m like Jewish by association.”

      • ChrisLicht@lemm.ee
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        11 months ago

        “Truly inspiring to be able to come here. Anne was a great girl. Hopefully she would have been a belieber.”

        • mosiacmango@lemm.ee
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          11 months ago

          Difference is a 19 year old and a 51yr old.

          I expect student shit from a teenager. Someone Musks age? Jesus.

      • boywar3@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        Its my understanding that it was more of a “holy shit, she was the same age as many of my fans” statement.

      • Mek@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        As someone else noted, Bieber was young and naive. I don’t think he said it to boost his ego; rather, it was just a poor choice of words. Now, Musk, on the other hand…