Elon Musk defended his stance on diversity and free speech in a tense interview with former CNN anchor Don Lemon.
Tesla’s chief executive was openly irritated by Lemon’s line of questioning during an hour-long video interview. published on Monday.
Asked about prescribing ketamine, Musk said, “It’s a pretty private thing to ask someone about a medical prescription.” He said he took the drug to deal with “negative chemical conditions in the brain, such as depression.”
Asked if he had abused drugs commonly used as anesthetics, he said: If you use too much ketamine, you won’t be able to actually do any work. There’s a lot of work.”
Musk, who canceled his X platform’s contract with Lemon after the interview was taped earlier this month, has spoken out about diversity, equity and inclusion, including his support for conservative Ben Shapiro’s thread on X. (DEI) asked about criticism of the system. Experts argued that DEI was putting patients at risk.
Lemon told Musk there was “no evidence” that the DEI system was lowering standards of medical practice, and the billionaire said his responses to the X User interview “will be his own decision” on the issue. He said it would be helpful.
Asked if he believes in DEI, Musk said, “I think we should… treat people according to their skills and integrity.”
Musk also defended X’s content moderation standards after Lemon highlighted anti-Semitic and racist posts that still remain on the platform, which the Tesla CEO acquired in 2022.
When asked why it wasn’t removed, Musk said the post wasn’t illegal, saying, “I mean, Don, you love censorship.” Lemon said he believed in moderation, to which Musk replied, “Moderation is a propaganda word that means censorship.”
If a post is illegal, “we’re going to take it down,” Musk said, adding that if it doesn’t violate the law, “we either deserve the censorship or we’re the censors.”
Musk made his frustration with Lemon clear on several points. When the moderator asked if he was upset, the entrepreneur replied, “You’re upset because the way you phrased your question was not very convincing.”
Musk told Lemon that the next Tesla Roadster model will be a collaboration with the SpaceX business and “will incorporate rocket technology.”
He added, “I think the only way to make something cooler than the Cybertruck is to combine SpaceX and Tesla technology to make something that isn’t actually even a car.” Asked if it was a flying car, Musk replied, “Maybe.”
Musk also acknowledged that he had recently met Donald Trump, but said he had not donated to Joe Biden’s campaign, although he had “stepped back” from supporting him. Asked if he would support a presidential candidate, he said, “I may end up supporting a candidate, but I don’t know yet.”
Source: www.theguardian.com
