Elon Musk Schools Don Lemon On Free Speech, Woke Mind Virus, DEI, Immigration And More In Heated Interview

In wide-ranging and contentious interview on The Don Lemon Show published on Rumble and other platforms Monday, Tesla chief Elon Musk answered questions on the upcoming Roadster electric vehicle, free speech, Ketamine use, among other topics. The X owner has since canceled deal negotiations with Lemon to host some exclusive content on X, after the disgraced ex-CNN anchor made some widely ridiculed astronomical demands of the social media company.

Responding to Lemon's questions about lax moderation rules on X, Musk said “I think we have a responsibility to adhere to the law," adding that if a post is illegal, “we’re going to take it down.” To remove posts that didn’t break the law would mean “we’re putting our thumb on the scale or being censors,” the X owner argued.

Lemon claimed there have been an increase in racist and antisemitic content on the X. But Musk dismissed the claims which originated from far-left organizations opposed to his pro-free speech policy.

To the ex-CNN host's claims that X, has become a breeding ground for right-wing conspiracy theories, Musk explained that “old Twitter was fundamentally a tool of the far-left,” adding that 99% of the donations from employees went to the left-wing Democrat party in the United States. He told Lemon that under the old management, the platform censored and banned mostly right-leaning users.

Responding to questions about his recent meeting with Donald Trump, Musk revealed he was having breakfast at friend’s home in Florida, when the former president and current 2024 presidential frontrunner "came to visit." He suggested that the 45th president "did most of the talking,” during their meeting.

The Tesla chief confirmed that Trump didn't ask him to contribute to his presidential campaign, adding that he does not plan to donate to any candidate. “I don’t want to put a thumb on the scale monetarily.”

Musk however, did not rule out the possibility of endorsing a candidate, adding that he is “leaning away from [President Joe] Biden.”

Responding to a question about his prescription for ketamine, Musk said: “It’s pretty private to ask somebody about a medical prescription.” The SpaceX CEO said he took the drug to address “a negative chemical state in my in my brain, like depression.”

Critics have slammed Lemon for asking such offensive and intrusive personal and health-related questions.

Musk said he takes “a small amount[of Ketamine] once every other week, or something like that.”

“If you use too much ketamine, you can’t really get work done,” he said, responding to Lemon's insinuations otherwise. “I have a lot of work.”

To Lemon's questions about supposed investors' concerns, Musk said, “From a standpoint of Wall Street, what matters is execution."

The Tesla chief added "from investors’ standpoint, if there is something I’m taking, I should keep taking it;” referencing the growing value and popularity of his companies' products.

Lemon asked the X owner about his criticism of 'woke' diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) schemes including his support for a post on X, claiming that DEI was endangering medical patients. The ex-CNN host falsely claimed that there was “no evidence” that DEI schemes were lowering the standards for medical practice, prompting Musk to say the response to the interview by X users would help them “make their own decision” on the issue of evidence.

Asked if he believed in DEI, Musk said: “I think we should … treat people according to their skills and integrity,” and not their gender or the color of their skin.

Lemon asked long-winded questions related to slavery and race, which critics have called out as an attempt at 'race-baiting' by the black ex-CNN host.

“We are all descended from slaves,” Musk said, referencing the historic fact that all races have been enslaved at different times in the past. He argued that the country should “move on” and not make racism “a constant subject."

“Well, not everyone was a slave,” Lemon falsely claimed, adding that it was “insulting” for Musk to suggest that people who experienced racism or discrimination should “just move forward and ignore the past.”

Musk explained that unless the society moves on from talking divisively about racism, there'll be no progress.

Responding to questions on his social media posts about the massive open border crisis under the Biden administration, Musk noted that illegal aliens have a “very strong bias toward Democrat[party]” and he believes that Democrats are intentionally allowing illegal immigration to help their electoral power.

“When the census is done, the census is based on all people in an area, whether they are citizens or not,” Musk said. “So if there are a concentration of people who came here illegally in a particular state that state will actually then get an increased number of House seats. So the House seat apportionment is proportional to number of people, not the number of citizens. So the illegals overwhelmingly go to places like California, New York.”

“And if you just look at that the math, if you look at the apportionment, with or without illegals … I believe the blue states, there would be a net loss of blue states of approximately 20 seats in the House,” he added. “This also applies to the the Electoral College. This also applies to electing the president. Because the same, the electoral votes are also done by apportionment the same way that House seats are done.”

Lemon claimed that Musk is wrong and that reality is “the exact opposite” of what Musk said.

“If as is the case, a disproportionate number of illegal immigrants go to blue states, they amplify the effect of a blue state vote,” Musk explained. “And the math as I understand it, you can research this obviously, very easily. It’s pretty straightforward to research this. But my understanding is that the Democrats would lose approximately 20 seats in the House if illegals were not counted in the census, and that’s also 20 Less electoral votes for president. So illegals absolutely do affect the who controls the House and who controls the presidency. It does not affect the Senate."

In one of the most tense exchanges during the interview, Lemon brought up the X owner's previous statement that advertisers could “kill” the platform with a boycott; suggesting that the companies’ suspension of advertising was a form of free speech, and that Musk might bear responsibility if X fails.

“You said, ‘If they kill the company, it’s them,’ but doesn’t the buck stop with you?” the far-left pro-censorship ex-CNN host asked.

Musk, who at this time appeared frustrated and irritated by Lemon's unprofessional and disrespectful conduct during the interview, said “Don, I have to say, choose your questions carefully. There’s five minutes left.”

The Tesla chief talked about the company's upcoming supercar. He said the next Roadster model would be a collaboration with SpaceX and “would have some rocket technology in it.”

Musk added: “I think the only way to do something that’s cooler than the Cybertruck is to combine SpaceX and Tesla technology to create something that’s not even really a car.” Asked if it was a flying car, he said: “Maybe.”