Chapter 116: X

431       The world’s richest man . . . purchased Twitter on October 27, 2022 Kate Conger and Lauren Hirsch, “Elon Musk Completes $44 Billion Deal to Own Twitter,” New York Times, October 27, 2022, www.nytimes.com/2022/10/27/technology/elon-musk-twitter-deal-complete.html. 

431       renamed the platform X Ryan Mac and Tiffany Hsu, “From Twitter to X: Elon Musk Begins Erasing an Iconic Internet Brand,” New York Times, July 24, 2023, www.nytimes.com/2023/07/24/technology/twitter-x-elon-musk.html. 

431       fired the company’s entire moderation staff in Brazil Elizabeth Dwoskin, “Come to the ‘War Cry Party’: How Social Media Helped Drive Mayhem in Brazil,” Washington Post, January 9, 2023,www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/01/08/brazil-bolsanaro-twitter-facebook/. 

431       opened the door . . . to swarm Brazilian users with lies that . . . had been stolen from him Dwoskin, “Come to the ‘War Cry Party’: How Social Media Helped Drive Mayhem in Brazil,” www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/01/08/brazil-bolsanaro-twitter-facebook/. 

431       eliminated these teams around the world Samuel Stolton et al., “Elon Musk Triggers Twitter Chaos with Mass Firings Worldwide,” Politico, November 4, 2022, www.politico.eu/article/twitter-fires-employs-worldwide/. 

431       reinstated several banned . . . including Trump Reinstated previously banned accounts include Donald Trump, Andrew Anglin, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Project Veritas, Patrick Casey, and Alex Jones. Others include Andrew Tate, James Lindsay, and Kanye West. For more details on the reinstatement of these accounts, see: Mrinmay Dey and Jyoti Narayan, “Conspiracy Theorist Alex Jones Reinstated on X After Musk Poll,” Reuters, December 10, 2023, www.reuters.com/technology/musk-poll-shows-x-users-want-us-conspiracy-theorist-jones-account-back-2023-12-10/; Damien Leloup and William Audureau, “Conspiracy Theorists, Homophobes, Neo-Nazis: Ten Accounts That Embody Twitter’s Change Under Musk,” Le Monde, December 19, 2022, updated April 27, 2023, www.lemonde.fr/en/les-decodeurs/article/2022/12/19/conspiracy-theorists-homophobes-neo-nazis-ten-accounts-that-embody-twitter-s-change-under-elon-musk_6008352_8.html. 

431       “unprecedented” increase in . . . “Before Elon Musk bought Twitter, slurs against Black Americans showed up on the social media service an average of 1,282 times a day. After the billionaire became Twitter’s owner, they jumped to 3,876 times a day. Slurs against gay men appeared on Twitter 2,506 times a day on average before Mr. Musk took over. Afterward, their use rose to 3,964 times a day. And antisemitic posts referring to Jews or Judaism soared more than 61 percent in the two weeks after Mr. Musk acquired the site.” Sheera Frenkel and Kate Conger, “Hate Speech’s Rise on Twitter Is Unprecedented, Researchers Find,” New York Times, December 2, 2022, www.nytimes.com/2022/12/02/technology/twitter-hate-speech.html. 

431       eliminated fact-checking Bruna Horvath et al., “Meta Is Ending Its Fact-Checking Program in Favor of a ‘Community Notes’ Section Similar to X’s” NBC News, January 7, 2025, www.nbcnews.com/tech/social-media/meta-ends-fact-checking-program-community-notes-x-rcna186468. 

431       created a show on X, where he interviewed great replacement politicians Bharat Gautom and Yana Gaur, “Former Fox News Host Tucker Carlson Kicks Off New show on Twitter,” Reuters, June 6, 2023, www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/former-fox-news-host-tucker-carlson-kicks-off-new-show-twitter-2023-06-07/; Tucker Calrson, X, August 23, 2023, 8:55 p.m., x.com/TuckerCarlson/status/1694513603251241143 , archived at archive.today, November 1, 2025 capture, archive.ph/d3hl6(interview with Trump); Tucker Carlson, X, August 29, 2023, 6:00PM, x.com/TuckerCarlson/status/1696643892253466712 , archived at archive.today, November 1, 2025 capture, archive.ph/mozrE (interview with Orbán); Tucker Carlson, X, February 8, 2024, 6:25 p.m., x.com/TuckerCarlson/status/1755734526678925682, archived at archive.today, November 1, 2025 capture, archive.ph/fLmc1 (interview with Putin).

431       his approximately 150 million followers Elon Musk X profile accessed via Wayback Machine, July 24, 2023 capture, web.archive.org/web/20230724033754/https://twitter.com/elonmusk. 

431       the inactive ones that were possibly bots Matt Binder, “Elon Musk’s X Follower Count Bloated by Millions of New, Inactive Accounts,” Mashable, August 18, 2023, mashable.com/article/elon-musk-x-twitter-follower-data. 

431       “They are openly pushing for genocide of . . .” Elon Musk, X, July 31, 2023, 11:35 a.m., x.com/elonmusk/status/1686037774510497792, archived at archive.today, February 11, 2025 capture, archive.ph/Y1KeX.

431       pinned . . . a misleading graph purporting to prove . . . Elon Musk, X, December 30, 2023, 8:25 a.m., x.com/elonmusk/status/1741087997410660402, archived at archive.today, January 1, 2024 capture, archive.ph/3mwSi; and Philip Bump, “The Political Exploitation of Immigration Data,” Washington Post, January 4, 2024, www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/01/04/immigration-republicans-speaker-johnson/. 

431       “Almost no one seems to be aware . . .” Elon Musk, Twitter, December 30, 2023, x.com/elonmusk/status/1741087997410660402, archived at archive.ph/3mwSi

432       “the biggest problem that humanity faces . . .” Elon Musk, Twitter, January 2, 2024, 7:04 p.m., x.com/elonmusk/status/1742336125111345235, archived at archive.today, February 10, 2026 capture, archive.ph/wip/Z9bma.

432       commonly debunk Bump, “The Political Exploitation of Immigration Data,” www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/01/04/immigration-republicans-speaker-johnson/; and Miles Klee, ”Elon Musk All but Endorses the Great Replacement Conspiracy Theory,” Rolling Stone, January 5, 2024, www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/elon-musk-great-replacement-conspiracy-theory-1234941337/. 

432       “The biggest problem we face today @elonmusk . . .” Geert Wilders, X, January 3, 2024, 12:19 p.m., x.com/geertwilderspvv/status/1742596599631446238, archived at archive.today, February 10, 2026 capture, archive.ph/wip/56qlY.  

432       “due to open borders, mass immigration . . .” Geert Wilders, X, January 3, 2024, x.com/geertwilderspvv/status/1742596599631446238, archived at archive.ph/wip/56qlY.

432       “agreed” Elon Musk, X, January 4, 2024, 3:32 a.m., x.com/elonmusk/status/1742826319849684997, archived at archive.today, January 10, 2024 capture, archive.ph/1PKpf.

432       “actively facilitating illegal immigration” Elon Musk, X, January 4, 2024, 12:21 p.m., x.com/elonmusk/status/1742959346936381840, archived at archive.today, February 10, 2026 capture, archive.ph/wip/fj8bu.

432       “They view them as future Dem voters” Elon Musk, Twitter, January 4, 2024, 12:30 p.m., x.com/elonmusk/status/1742961741061935233, archived at archive.today, February 10, 2026 capture, archive.ph/wip/reCa6.

432       “The great replacement theory is a neo-Nazi trope” Don Lemon, “Elon Musk on Racism, Bailing Out Trump, Hate Speech, and More—The Don Lemon Show (Full Interview),” YouTube, March 18, 2024, youtu.be/hhsfjBpKiTw?si=NwOFg2K5xVisyaco&t=1399, 29:12–29:16.

432       denied that he subscribed Lemon, “Elon Musk on Racism, Bailing Out Trump, Hate Speech, and More—The Don Lemon Show (Full Interview),” youtu.be/hhsfjBpKiTw?si=NwOFg2K5xVisyaco&t=1399, 23:42–23:48.

432       canceled Lemon’s show David Hamilton, “Musk Abruptly Cancels ‘The Don Lemon Show’ on X After He Sits for the Program’s First Interview,” Associated Press (AP) News, March 13, 2024, apnews.com/article/elon-musk-don-lemon-cancellation-bdbed1da86c3640daa63e384c734f5db. 

432       “If birth rates continue to plummet . . .” Elon Musk, X, April 28, 2024, 10:15 p.m., x.com/elonmusk/status/1784768522645889111, archived at archive.today, February 10, 2026 capture, archive.ph/wip/6vRKR.

432       at least fourteen children Wall Street Journal, “Elon Musk has had at least 14 children with four women . . .” Facebook, April 17, 2025, www.facebook.com/WSJ/videos/elon-musk-has-had-at-least-14-children-with-four-women-wsjs-dana-mattioli-report/2102719496868236/. 

432       embedded in the post a video from the first ever . . . his compound in Austin Musk, X, April 28, 2024, x.com/elonmusk/status/1784768522645889111, archived at archive.ph/wip/6vRKR; and Jason Wilson, “US Natalist Conference to Host Race-Science Promoters and Eugenicists,” The Guardian, March 3, 2025, www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/03/natal-conference-austin-texas-eugenics; and Jason Wilson, “Revealed: US Pro-Birth Conference’s Links to Far-Right Eugenicists,” The Guardian, September 4, 2023, www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/sep/04/natal-conference-austin-texas-eugenics. 

432       Attendees of “Natal Con” identified as “pronatalists” Wilson, “US Pro-Birth Conference’s Links to Far-Right Eugenicists,” www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/03/natal-conference-austin-texas-eugenics; and Lisa Hagen, “They Say They Want Americans to Have More Babies: What's Beneath the Surface?” NPR, April 25, 2025, www.npr.org/2025/04/25/nx-s1-5371718/pronatalist-birth-rate-musk-natal-conference.   

432       “to remember” Brenton Tarrant, “The Great Replacement,” manifesto, March 15, 2019.

432       “birth rates must change” Tarrant, “The Great Replacement.”

432       surprised . . . encouraging them to have four children, like him Erdoğan told one couple, “One is awkward; two is competitive; with three, there is balance; four means prosperity.” Kaya Genç, “Erdoğan’s Great Replacement Theory,” The Dial, January 25, 2023, www.thedial.world/articles/news/issue-1/turkey-erdogan-far-right-abortion-surveillance-technology. 

432       “Birth control is treason” Recep Tayyip Erdoğan quoted in Genç, “Erdoğan’s Great Replacement Theory,” www.thedial.world/articles/news/issue-1/turkey-erdogan-far-right-abortion-surveillance-technology. 

432       dries “out our breed” Erdoğan quoted in Genç, “Erdoğan’s Great Replacement Theory,” www.thedial.world/articles/news/issue-1/turkey-erdogan-far-right-abortion-surveillance-technology. 

432       three-time U.S. presidential candidate Ben Jacobs, “Pat Buchanan Gets the Last Laugh,” Politico, September 5, 2025, www.politico.com/newsletters/politico-nightly/2025/09/05/pat-buchanan-gets-the-last-laugh-00434342. 

432       “Western women are terminating their pregnancies . . .” Patrick J. Buchanan, The Death of the West: How Dying Populations and Immigrant Invasions Imperil Our Country and Civilization (New York. St. Martin’s Press, 2002), 24. Find the library book at search.worldcat.org/title/48123033. 

433       Speaking . . . was Kevin Dolan, the organizer of Natal Con Musk, X, April 28, 2024, x.com/elonmusk/status/1784768522645889111, archived at archive.ph/wip/6vRKR; and Wilson, “US Natalist Conference to Host Race-Science Promoters and Eugenicists,” www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/03/natal-conference-austin-texas-eugenics.

433       previously worked . . . posting the racist ideas of Charles A. Murray . . . persists due . . . Hagen, “They Say They Want Americans to Have More Babies: What's Beneath the Surface?” www.npr.org/2025/04/25/nx-s1-5371718/pronatalist-birth-rate-musk-natal-conference; and “Kevin Michael Dolan Exposed As Racist, Antisemitic, Homophobic DezNat,” DezNat Exposed, blog, August 1, 2021, exposedeznat.noblogs.org/kevin-michael-dolan-exposed-racist-antisemitic-homophobic-deznat-mormon/.

433       exposed Dolan The original blog post that revealed Dolan’s identity is “Kevin Michael Dolan Exposed As Racist, Antisemitic, Homophobic DezNat,” exposedeznat.noblogs.org/kevin-michael-dolan-exposed-racist-antisemitic-homophobic-deznat-mormon.

433       left his job . . . sharing his views on his podcast Hagen, “They Say They Want Americans to Have More Babies: What's Beneath the Surface?” www.npr.org/2025/04/25/nx-s1-5371718/pronatalist-birth-rate-musk-natal-conference. 

433       . . . “relationship between superior and inferior” Kevin Dolan quoted in Hagen, “They Say They Want Americans to Have More Babies: What's Beneath the Surface?” www.npr.org/2025/04/25/nx-s1-5371718/pronatalist-birth-rate-musk-natal-conference. 

433       “about the existence of these hierarchies” Dolan quoted in Hagen, “Say They Want Americans to Have More Babies: What's Beneath the Surface?” www.npr.org/2025/04/25/nx-s1-5371718/pronatalist-birth-rate-musk-natal-conference. 

433       “rehabilitate hierarchies of nature” . . . Dolan quoted in Hagen, “They Say They Want Americans to Have More Babies: What's Beneath the Surface?” www.npr.org/2025/04/25/nx-s1-5371718/pronatalist-birth-rate-musk-natal-conference. 

433       “And that brings us back to where we started . . .” Dolan quoted in Hagen, “They Say They Want Americans to Have More Babies: What's Beneath the Surface?”www.npr.org/2025/04/25/nx-s1-5371718/pronatalist-birth-rate-musk-natal-conference. 

433       to assemble an “aristocratic class” . . . “breeding system” Dolan quoted in Hagen, “They Say They Want Americans to Have More Babies: What's Beneath the Surface?” www.npr.org/2025/04/25/nx-s1-5371718/pronatalist-birth-rate-musk-natal-conference. 

433       Another speaker . . . Charles Haywood . . . from Indiana Hagen, “They Say They Want Americans to Have More Babies: What's Beneath the Surface?” www.npr.org/2025/04/25/nx-s1-5371718/pronatalist-birth-rate-musk-natal-conference; and Jason Wilson, “US Businessman Is Wannabe ‘Warlord’ of Secretive Far-Right Men’s Network,” The Guardian, www.theguardian.com/world/2023/aug/22/charles-haywood-claremont-institute-sacr-far-right. 

433       “Generally, women should not have careers” Natal Conference, “2023 Natalism Conference—Charles Haywood,” YouTube, April 30, 2024, youtu.be/OYSIpX61n_k?si=-IJfYzPy561MQfl8, 21:12–21:14; and Hagen, “They Say They Want Americans to Have More Babies: What's Beneath the Surface?” www.npr.org/2025/04/25/nx-s1-5371718/pronatalist-birth-rate-musk-natal-conference. 

433       “They should be socially stigmatized if they have careers” Natal Conference, “2023 Natalism Conference—Charles Haywood,” YouTube, youtu.be/OYSIpX61n_k?si=-IJfYzPy561MQfl8, 21:14–21:17; and Hagen, “They Say They Want Americans to Have More Babies: What's Beneath the Surface?” www.npr.org/2025/04/25/nx-s1-5371718/pronatalist-birth-rate-musk-natal-conference. 

433       “The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and its progeny . . .” Natal Conference, “2023 Natalism Conference—Charles Haywood,” youtu.be/OYSIpX61n_k?si=-IJfYzPy561MQfl8, 21:53–22:02; and Hagen, “They Say They Want Americans to Have More Babies: What's Beneath the Surface?” www.npr.org/2025/04/25/nx-s1-5371718/pronatalist-birth-rate-musk-natal-conference. 

433       audience applauded Natal Conference, “2023 Natalism Conference—Charles Haywood,” youtu.be/OYSIpX61n_k?si=-IJfYzPy561MQfl8, 22:03–22:07.

433       sponsored but did not address . . . in March 2025 Hagen, “They Say They Want Americans to Have More Babies: What's Beneath the Surface?” www.npr.org/2025/04/25/nx-s1-5371718/pronatalist-birth-rate-musk-natal-conference. 

433       Two hundred people attended, doubling the size of the first Hagen, “They Say They Want Americans to Have More Babies: What's Beneath the Surface?” www.npr.org/2025/04/25/nx-s1-5371718/pronatalist-birth-rate-musk-natal-conference.   

433       “To the enemies of civilization . . .” Natal Conference, “NatalCon 2025: Jack Posobiec,” YouTube, May 21, 2025, youtu.be/TiOSJsxnNag?si=svb7n8OPWQRV8P3V, 4:22–4:38; and Hagen, “They Say They Want Americans to Have More Babies: What's Beneath the Surface?” www.npr.org/2025/04/25/nx-s1-5371718/pronatalist-birth-rate-musk-natal-conference. 

433       “The topic of demographic decline clearly matters to . . .” Natal Conference, “NatalCon 2025: Kevin Dolan,” YouTube, April 18, 2025, youtu.be/D9wOD6Vh-Zc?si=pOgJ0ihSKjTMUorM, 0:45–0:51; and Hagen, “They Say They Want Americans to Have More Babies: What's Beneath the Surface?” www.npr.org/2025/04/25/nx-s1-5371718/pronatalist-birth-rate-musk-natal-conference. 

433–434  “Which means that the great ideas . . .” Natal Conference, “NatalCon 2025: Kevin Dolan,” youtu.be/D9wOD6Vh-Zc?si=pOgJ0ihSKjTMUorM, 0:52–0:56; and Hagen, “They Say They Want Americans to Have More Babies: What's Beneath the Surface?” www.npr.org/2025/04/25/nx-s1-5371718/pronatalist-birth-rate-musk-natal-conference. 

434      “What’s the biggest thing for you . . .” Fox News, “Elon Musk: We Must Make Sure America Will Be Strong for a Long Time,” YouTube, March 28, 2025, youtu.be/YgRMZouYRhU?si=TUVEK2JapPPorBXf, 9:37–9:41.

434      “The birth rate is very low in almost every country” Fox News, “Elon Musk: We Must Make Sure America Will Be Strong for a Long Time,” youtu.be/YgRMZouYRhU?si=TUVEK2JapPPorBXf, 10:00–10:03.

434      “And unless that changes . . .” Fox News, “Elon Musk: We Must Make Sure America Will Be Strong for a Long Time,” youtu.be/YgRMZouYRhU?si=TUVEK2JapPPorBXf, 10:04–10:25.

434      outpaced the number of human deaths in the world “During January 2025, 4.2 births and 2.0 deaths are expected worldwide every second.” Diana M. Rodriguez, “U.S. Population Projected to Reach 341,145,670 at Midnight EST on January 1,” U.S. Census Bureau, December 30, 2024, www.census.gov/library/stories/2024/12/new-year-population.html. 

434      In 2024 . . . had the lowest fertility rates in the world See 2024 data in “Total Fertility Rate 2025,” World Population Review, accessed October 2, 2025, worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/total-fertility-rate. 

434      The fifteen countries . . . were all in sub-Saharan Africa 2024 data in “Total Fertility Rate 2025,” World Population Review, accessed October 2, 2025, worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/total-fertility-rate. 

434      Minnesota-born maternal grandfather . . . grew up in Saskatchewan Jill Lepore, “The World According to Elon Musk’s Grandfather,” New Yorker, September 19, 2023, www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/the-world-according-to-elon-musks-grandfather. 

434      national chairman of . . . named Social Credit “National Council of S.C. to Meet,” Edmonton Journal, October 9, 1946, www.newspapers.com/article/edmonton-journal/131831238/?locale=en-US; Lepore, “The World According to Elon Musk’s Grandfather,” www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/the-world-according-to-elon-musks-grandfather; and Joshua Benton, “Elon Musk’s Anti-Semitic, Apartheid-Loving Grandfather,” The Atlantic September 20, 2023, www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2023/09/joshua-haldeman-elon-musk-grandfather-apartheid-antisemitism/675396/. 

434      printed copies of . . . Protocols of the Elders of Zion Benton, “Elon Musk’s Anti-Semitic, Apartheid-Loving Grandfather,” www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2023/09/joshua-haldeman-elon-musk-grandfather-apartheid-antisemitism/675396/. 

434      ran for office in Canada and lost Lepore, “The World According to Elon Musk’s Grandfather,” www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/the-world-according-to-elon-musks-grandfather

434      had codified apartheid in South Africa Lepore, “The World According to Elon Musk’s Grandfather,” www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/the-world-according-to-elon-musks-grandfather.

434      By 1950, he had moved his family to South Africa . . . Lepore, “The World According to Elon Musk’s Grandfather,” www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/the-world-according-to-elon-musks-grandfather; and Benton, “Elon Musk’s Anti-Semitic, Apartheid-Loving Grandfather,” www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2023/09/joshua-haldeman-elon-musk-grandfather-apartheid-antisemitism/675396/. 

434      married Errol Musk . . . in 1970 Kirsten Grind and John Eligon, “Elon Musk’s Father Accused of Child Sexual Abuse,” New York Times, September 23, 2025, www.nytimes.com/2025/09/23/world/africa/elon-musk-father-errol-child-abuse.html

435       divorced by the decade’s end Grind and John Eligon, “Elon Musk’s Father Accused of Child Sexual Abuse,” www.nytimes.com/2025/09/23/world/africa/elon-musk-father-errol-child-abuse.html.

435       outspoken defense of South African apartheid in the 1960s Lepore, “The World According to Elon Musk’s Grandfather,” www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/the-world-according-to-elon-musks-grandfather; and Benton, “Elon Musk’s Anti-Semitic, Apartheid-Loving Grandfather,” www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2023/09/joshua-haldeman-elon-musk-grandfather-apartheid-antisemitism/675396/. 

435       “International Conspiracy” . . . “hordes of Coloured people” . . . J. N. Haldeman, The International Conspiracy to Establish a World Dictatorship and the Menace to South Africa, May 1960, quoted in Benton, “Elon Musk’s Anti-Semitic, Apartheid-Loving Grandfather,” www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2023/09/joshua-haldeman-elon-musk-grandfather-apartheid-antisemitism/675396/. 

435       “the leader of White Christian Civilization” Haldeman, The International Conspiracy to Establish a World Dictatorship and the Menace to South Africa, quoted in Benton, “Elon Musk’s Anti-Semitic, Apartheid-Loving Grandfather,” www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2023/09/joshua-haldeman-elon-musk-grandfather-apartheid-antisemitism/675396/. 

435       “becoming more and more the focal point . . .” Haldeman, The International Conspiracy to Establish a World Dictatorship and the Menace to South Africa, quoted in Benton, “Elon Musk’s Anti-Semitic, Apartheid-Loving Grandfather,” www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2023/09/joshua-haldeman-elon-musk-grandfather-apartheid-antisemitism/675396/. 

435       Bukele positions himself as . . . Carlos Martínez, “‘Now I Think It’s Very Clear Who’s in Control of the Situation,’” El Faro, February 10, 2020, elfaro.net/es/202002/el_salvador/24006/“Ahora-creo-que-está-muy-claro-quién-tiene-el-control-de-la-situación”.htm.