Elon Musk told CNBC’s David Faber on Tuesday that he doesn’t care if his inflammatory tweets scare advertisers away from Twitter.
“I’ll say what I want, and if the consequence of that is losing money, so be it,” said Musk, who owns Twitter.
Musk replied defensively as Faber pressed him over a tweet Monday night in which he likened liberal billionaire and Democratic donor George Soros to X-Men villain Magneto, a Jewish Holocaust survivor. Musk has previously criticized Soros, as well.
“He wants to erode the very fabric of civilization. Soros hates humanity,” Musk tweeted Monday.
Soros, who is also Jewish, is a favorite target of right wing pundits and politicians and often the subject of anti-Semitic attacks. Soros Fund Management also recently cut its stake in Tesla.
“I’m a pro-Semite, if anything,” Musk said when Faber asked him about the criticism the Tesla CEO faced over his Soros tweets.
For years, Musk has tweeted controversial items, including conspiracy theories and comments his critics have called broadly discriminatory.
Since he took over Twitter last fall, Twitter has experienced a sharp decline in advertising revenue. Last week, Musk hired former NBCUniversal advertising chief to replace him as Twitter’s CEO, a move widely seen as a way to jumpstart Twitter’s ad business. She started Sunday.
–CNBC’s Lora Kolodny contributed to this report.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.