Elon Musk is one of the most powerful men in the world as well as among the richest, but (to borrow a page from Spider-Man here) he has neglected to use his power in a responsible way. Instead, he cozies up to the president-elect of the United States, convicted felon Donald Trump, and spreads dangerous misinformation on the social media platform he owns.
Musk is, to put it bluntly, one of the most dangerous people operating in the world today. He’s currently using his vast wealth to fuel the flames of far-right groups in Europe, such as Germany’s AfD and Britain’s Reform. Then there’s the issue of the actual flames. Wildfires have devastating Los Angeles, and Musk is blaming everything but climate change, despite scientists agreeing that climate change was the root cause of the wildfires. Instead, Musk seeks to blame Governor of California Gavin Newsom, as well as “DEI” (diversity, equity and inclusion) policies. And he’s doing so using the most inflammatory language possible.
Yesterday, Musk slammed Newsom by calling him a “subt*rd.” This is a corruption of the ableist slur “r*tard” and it appears to be Musk’s new favorite word. He also used it while addressing speculation that he was using the alt account Adrian Dittman, and during the furore that erupted over H-1B visas late last year.
One X user was so disgusted by this most recent use of the word that she took a screenshot of the “subt*rd” post and wrote, “I believe this loathsome, fear mongering sh*tbag may be even more despised worldwide than Trump is.” And even on Musk’s own social media platform, plenty of people agreed with her.
Musk’s abhorrent ableism is under-discussed. As well as the word “subt*rd”, Musk likes using “r*tard” on its own. For example, he used a quote from the disgustingly ableist movie Tropic Thunder to slam Ben Stiller back in November. (Obviously, as Stiller directed and starred in the movie, he’s not innocent in this situation either.) Then, come January 6, Musk responded, “F u ret*rd” to a random stranger on X who criticized him. Yep, Musk pretends to be a “free speech absolutist” but he’s absolutely not.
Now, uses of the r-word have shot up on X. Montclair State University recently released a study confirmed it. They discovered, “a 207.5% increase in posts containing the r-word on X after Musk’s post using the slur on Jan. 6, 2025.” It’s been considered a disgusting slur against disabled people for a long time now, but that doesn’t stop Musk and his followers.
“This is an example of how hate content been normalized and boosted in the online space,” said Dr. Daniela Peterka-Benton, Associate Professor of Justice Studies at Montclair. “The online space has always held potential dangers for marginalized communities, and it appears to be getting worse.” With Meta rolling back its DEI policies in the wake of Trump’s re-election, it almost certainly will get worse. Social media has become a horrible place to be a member of any marginalized group and it’s all because of people like Musk. He deserves every last bit of the hate he gets.
Published: Jan 13, 2025 08:59 am