Elon Musk scornfully compared George Soros to the X-Men supervillain Magneto after the billionaire Democratic donor disclosed he had dumped a massive trove of Tesla stock.
Musk went on to claim that Soros “hates humanity.”
The 92-year-old, Hungarian-born billionaire heads the Open Society Foundations and has frequently drawn the ire of conservatives for his support of progressive causes.
“Soros reminds me of Magneto,” Musk tweeted.
The post had generated nearly 165,000 likes and nearly 25 million views as of the time of this article’s publication.
Musk did not initially explain what prompted him to lash out at Soros.
But the scornful tweet was posted shortly after a regulatory filing revealed that Soros’ family office had dumped its entire stake in Tesla during the first quarter of this year.
The value of the stake was not immediately clear — but Tesla shares have surged by nearly 54% since the start of the year.
Soros also exited its position on another electric vehicle maker, Rivian.
Musk’s tweet drew a rebuke from progressive political activist Brian Krassenstein, who noted that both Soros and the fictional Magneto are survivors of the Holocaust.
“Fun fact: Magneto’s experiences during the Holocaust as a survivor shaped his perspective as well as his depth and empathy,” Krassenstein tweeted. “Soro [sic], also a Holocaust survivor, get’s [sic] attacked nonstop for his good intentions which some Americans think are bad merely because they disagree with this [sic] political affiliations.”
“You assume they are good intentions. They are not,” Musk replied. “He wants to erode the very fabric of civilization. Soros hates humanity.”
Musk’s remarks drew sharp criticism from the Anti-Defamation League and its CEO, Jonathan Greenblatt, who accused the Tesla boss of pushing anti-Semitic conspiracy theories about Soros.
“Soros often is held up by the far-right, using antisemitic tropes, as the source of the world’s problems,” Greenblatt tweeted. “To see @ElonMusk, regardless of his intent, feed this segment — comparing him to a Jewish supervillain, claiming Soros ‘hates humanity’ — is not just distressing, it’s dangerous.”
“It will embolden extremists who already contrive anti-Jewish conspiracies and have tried to attack Soros and Jewish communities as a result,” Greenblatt added.
In the Marvel comic books, Magneto is key character who has the ability to generate and control magnetic fields.
He is frequently at odds with the X-Men due to his belief “that mutants should rule over humans,” though he occasional found himself allied to the superhero group, according to a bio on Marvel’s website.
Soros has a net worth of $8.5 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
His family office, Soros Fund Management, has about $28 billion in assets under management.
This story originally appeared on NYPost
