Elon Musk dodges allegations of terrorist profits with…transphobia?

The world’s most powerfully wealthy and least funny man continues to prove that he only has one joke. Faced with evidence that his company is profiting off of terrorist groups, Musk responded with (another) lame dig at trans people.

The New York Times ran a story on a Tech Transparency Project report, revealing that X/Twitter has received money from terrorist groups for its blue checkmark subscription service, “potentially violating U.S. sanctions.” That terrorist list includes “Hezbollah leaders, Houthi groups, and state-run media outlets in Iran and Russia.”

Related:

She had a close circle of gay friends. Then she founded Moms for Liberty.

“I think [the Zieglers are] hypocrites, especially Bridget.”

In response, the company removed checkmarks from 28 of the identified accounts and released a bland statement: “Our teams have reviewed the report and will take action if necessary. We’re always committed to ensuring that we maintain a safe, secure and compliant platform.”

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Musk, somewhat predictably, has not responded to the report—until he found a random excuse to be transphobic yet again.

On Wednesday, Stephen King tweeted, “According to the New York Times, terrorists may be paying for blue check marks on Twitter (I refuse to call it X).”

Instead of addressing the serious allegation that his company is supporting terrorists, Musk chose to terrorize us all with his attempts at humor. “Stop deadnaming 𝕏… Respect our transition 😂,,” Musk responded.

The right wing trolls he’s spent his tenure as owner of twitter.com cultivating quickly jumped in the comments. Anti-LGBTQ+ extremist group Libs of TikTok replied, “Is Stephen King transphobic?”

But trans folks were not having it. “Why? You never respected your daughters [transition],” Alejandra Caraballo responded.

One of Musk’s children, Vivian Jenna Wilson, is trans, and when filing for her legal name change, she told the court that she wanted to sever ties with him. “I no longer live with or wish to be related to my biological father in any way, shape or form,” she wrote. Can’t imagine why.

In recent years, Musk has gone through a very messy right wing descent, reversing bans on several extremist accounts and claiming that the word “cis” is a slur while taking any opportunity to bash LGBTQ+ community, or whatever he chooses to call “woke.” But if he thinks tired transphobic jokes will distract from profiting off of terrorists—I’d say he’s mistaken, but we’re talking about his right wing followers here…