Speaker A
You support not just the populist right, but the far right. In fact, very fringe parties in some countries.
Elon Musk discusses Europe's political landscape, far-right misconceptions, UK safety, and his influence on Western politics.
Ask about this video. Answers come from its transcript only — with the timestamp, so you can check them.
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Key Takeaways
- Political labels like 'far right' are often misused and can obscure mainstream concerns.
- Crime rates in London and the UK are lower than perceived, contradicting some media narratives.
- Cultural and ideological clashes in the West could lead to significant social conflict if unaddressed.
- Musk rejects accusations of racism and emphasizes inclusivity in his personal and professional life.
- Media portrayal significantly shapes public opinion about Musk and Western political issues.
What the video covers
- Elon Musk challenges the labeling of certain political views as far-right fringe, arguing they were once mainstream.
- He critiques media for mischaracterizing the far right and emphasizes principles like secure borders and sensible spending.
- Musk disputes claims about rising crime and civil unrest in the UK, stating London is safer than many US cities.
- He warns of potential conflict if groups with antithetical views to Western values grow unchecked.
- Musk addresses accusations of racism and anti-Muslim sentiment, denying both and highlighting his diverse family and workforce.
- He criticizes traditional media for not recognizing the complexities of Western political and social issues.
- The discussion touches on Musk's influence over European politics despite not residing there full-time.
- The conversation includes debate over a controversial film glorifying vigilante violence and its implications.
- Musk admits the shifting political center of gravity in the US but distinguishes it from his main points.
- The video captures a contentious dialogue about Musk's role, opinions, and public perception.
Chapters
- 00:00Discussion on far right and populism
- 00:30Media portrayal of political speeches
- 00:45Shift in political center of gravity
- 01:07Principles of secure borders and spending
- 01:30Criticism of media characterization
- 01:44Pushback on far right labeling
- 01:58Musk's connection to the UK
- 02:44Crime statistics and UK safety
- 03:03Concerns about cultural conflict
- 03:28Invitation to tour Britain
Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown
Speaker A
Support the normal people. Okay. What do you call the far right, falsely? You think it's the normal person. Okay.
Speaker A
Yes. Literally, you could go back 10 or 15 years and these policies were completely normal.
Speaker A
In fact, one of the tricks, I think, is funny. One thing is this is quite funny: to take a speech from Obama and Hillary and then
Speaker A
go to someone who's sort of on what I call the lunatic left and say, "What do you think of the speech by Trump?" They say, "Oh, wow, he's the worst person ever."
Speaker A
Actually, that was a speech by Obama. Or actually, that was a speech by Hillary.
Speaker A
I agree. No, I agree that the center of gravity in this country has shifted. Certainly, the Democratic Party shifted to the left. But that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about people like Rupert Lowe. I'm talking about
Speaker A
fringe people or actually just normal people. It's just normal people. It's just normal people and the
Speaker A
And here are the principles. And tell me which of these sound terrible. That we should have secure borders, that we should have
Speaker A
safe cities, that we should have sensible spending. Which of those three are far right fringe? And
Speaker A
I would like to just admonish you, you know, and the media, for the absurd characterization of the
Speaker A
far right. It is false and misleading and nonsense. Please keep this part in. We'll keep all of this in.
Speaker A
[laughter] Let me, let me, let me. Don't cut this part. Let me push back on that. Let me push back on that. Because you have nonsense.
Speaker A
You don't. You have what is it? Close to 250 million followers on X.
Speaker A
Yeah, because I'm... You say things like popular guy.
Speaker A
Quote, "Civil war in Britain is inevitable. Just a question of when." I mean, when were you last in the UK?
Speaker A
A few years ago. Exactly. So, I live there. I'm there the whole time. That is not true.
Speaker A
In a cloistered existence? No, I don't actually. And the numbers also disprove what you say.
Speaker A
What numbers? All the numbers about crime. London is a much safer city than any city in the United States. Violent crime in the UK is not where you think it is. In fact, it's coming down. You have
Speaker A
painted, and because you have so many followers, so many Americans believe it, a kind of view that Europe and the UK are kind of, you know, overrun with terrifying Muslim immigrants. There's rape on every corner. There's a sort of
Speaker A
civilizational destruction. Any of those things. If you have a large and rapidly growing group of people whose beliefs are antithetical to Western beliefs, at some point there will be a reckoning.
Speaker A
They will try to implement their views and those who oppose it will oppose it, and that's what you call civil war.
Speaker A
And obviously, this is the trend. And you absolutely do live in a cloistered existence. And if you'd like, we can go on a tour of Britain.
Speaker A
Sure. And we can go on a walking tour, on a tour of Britain. And then you'll see for yourself.
Speaker A
Country that I live in all the time and you haven't been to a few years ago.
Speaker A
Literally a hundred times. But when was the last time? I think it was a few years ago.
Speaker A
You know why this exercise is me? Because you have really shaped opinion about the UK and so many Americans I come across and I have conversations with, and they have, we—I just had one the other day along the
Speaker A
order of, "Oh, London is such a dangerous place. How can you know there are sort of grooming gangs everywhere? There is violence everywhere." This is a picture that people get from things that you post or that are posted on X. And for example,
Speaker A
you, you're posting for what was it? 48 hours of citizen vigilante. That film which, yes,
Speaker A
paints a dystopian... I've watched it. Yes. It was not fun. I watched it yesterday.
Speaker A
It's not a very good movie. But it also paints a dystopian picture of Europe and it glorifies vigilante violence. It glorifies the murdering of a Muslim immigrant family.
Speaker A
I honestly think that it is irresponsible for you to put that up on X.
Speaker A
I think that it's a movie. And it's worth watching. People say that you're a racist. What is the motivation for doing that? Are you fermenting—is—is she half Indian and my... and I have four children with
Speaker A
her? You know, one of them was named after a famous Indian physicist. So I would say I'm not racist and also, if you look at the people that are employed at my
Speaker A
companies, you know, we have senior executives of all races. There's, there's, there's—I don't think there's any racism there.
Speaker A
Are you anti-Muslim? I am... I'm a child... I'm against having, if people are coming to a country with antithetical views, I am against that.
Speaker A
I'm against that. You know, I'm against... I am against rape and murder.
Speaker A
I'm against the imposition of rules and laws that are contrary to what we've come to accept in the West.
Speaker A
And I think it's a crying shame that the sort of traditional media like you don't recognize this.
Speaker A
Why should you be able to shape European politics? You don't even live there.
Speaker A
I think of it as the West collectively. But do you see why this makes people think that this man, who has all this power, he's the world's richest man, he thinks he has a right to influence our
Speaker A
politics? It makes people... It's why, you know, we started this conversation saying superlatives. It's why people loathe you.
Speaker A
I mean, some people do loathe you.
Topics:Elon MuskEurope politicsfar rightUK crimecivil war Britainmedia biasimmigrationWestern valuesvigilante violencepublic perception
