DeSantis dodges on Musk’s antisemitic post:  ‘I’ve never seen him indulge in any of that’

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) on Sunday would not condemn tech mogul Elon Musk’s antisemitic post, saying he had not seen its context and that he would be surprised if Musk engaged in antisemitic rhetoric.

In an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union,” anchor Jake Tapper pressed DeSantis on whether he would condemn the post on X, formerly Twitter, which Tapper noted prompted Apple and Disney to pull their ads from the platform. Tapper described Musk’s post as an endorsement of an “antisemitic conspiracy theory that Jews are conspiring to replace white Americans with minority immigrants.”

“I did not see the comment,” DeSantis said when asked whether he had seen the post and whether he would condemn it.

“I know that Elon has had a target on his back ever since he purchased Twitter because I think he’s taking it in the direction that a lot of people who are used to controlling the narrative don’t like,” he continued. “I was a big supporter of him purchasing Twitter. I think they’re obviously still working some stuff out, but I did not see those comments.”

Tapper, prepared for DeSantis’s claim not to have seen the post, read it aloud and read Musk’s endorsement of the conspiracy theory.

“You’ve been very upfront when you see antisemitism on the left. Is antisemitism on the right, something that concerns you as well?” Tapper asked.

“Across the board,” DeSantis said, adding that while antisemitism exists on “both sides,” it’s more pervasive on the left than on the right, “it tends to be, you know, more fringe voices that are doing it.”

At a later point, however, when Tapper pointed out that DeSantis had not condemned Musk’s post – even though he had read the post to him – DeSantis equivocated again.

“Well, because I haven’t seen it,” DeSantis said. “I know you tried to read, I have no idea what the context is. I know Elon Musk. I’ve never seen him do anything. I think he’s a, he’s a guy that believes in America. I’ve never seen him indulge in any of that. So it’s surprising if that’s true, but I have not seen it. So I don’t want to sit there and pass judgment on the fly.”