This is shockingly similar to Henry Ford ā i.e. an automotive mogul seen as an innovator in the general public uses his fortune and outsized influence to establish a large media presence and spread antisemitism.
There are some important distinctions, but nothing that makes me feel better about the situation.
1. At its height, Henry Fordās publication, āThe Dearborn Independent,ā had a circulation of 900,000. The largest circulation in America at the time was 950,000.
While it was certainly influential, it wasnāt unmatched. In comparison to Muskās 140 million followers, Ford reached a relatively small number of people.
2. Ford marketed explicit antisemitism, which eventually led to the downfall of his publication ā youāve probably heard of āThe international Jewā and āThe Protocols of the Elders of Zion.ā
However, as with most antisemites (on both the right and the left), Musk hides behind the thin veil of dog whistles and oversights, leaving a layer of barely-plausible deniability.
3. Ford was eventually forced to publicly apologize after he made the mistake of attacking Jewish attorney Aaron Sapiro for more than a year, until Sapiro eventually sued Ford for libel (i.e. he fucked around and found out lol). Ford eventually lost the case and was forced to publicly apologize (his apology was written by associates and his signature on it was reportedly forged). The magazine was shut down soon afterwards.
While I canāt predict the future, something tells me Muskās obfuscations and the current political climate will allow him to continue to operate with impunity. Dancing around the issue allows at the very least for greater longevity of your bigotry (say it with your chest you coward).
Despite everything, Ford was able to secure his position in history, albeit with some, um, unfortunate footnotes and the occasional caveat being mentioned.*
All in all, this feels very similar to Trump copying David Dukeās run for the Louisiana legislature, but thatās a story for a different day.
* some additional footnotes and caveats:
- Hitler quoted Ford in his infamous book
- Ford was a notorious union buster
- Ford received the Grand Cross of the German Eagle in 1938, the highest honor a foreigner could receive from Nazi Germany, with personal congratulations from Hitler
- After issuing the aforementioned āpublic apologyā in 1927, Ford said that he would like restart the publication of āThe International Jew.ā In 1940. 13 years later.
- Itās just my personal opinion, but we probably shouldnāt honor literal nazis, but whatever
- To this day, no one at my synagogue will buy a ford car. I donāt know if this is the norm in other places, but I imagine that itās not uncommon.
- Yes, Iām aware that nobody explicitly praises Henry Ford anymore, and everybody knows what a shithole he was. While āHenry Ford hated the Jewsā is a common refrain, specific knowledge of his hatred is lacking, and I think itās important to point to explicit hatred in the past, because hatred is normally hidden nowadays and needs to be identified outside of the group receiving the hatred.