White House slams Musk antisemitic post, but says ‘foolish’ to drop SpaceX contracts

The White House is not moving away from Elon Musk’s SpaceX or Starlink technology despite condemning Musk for pushing antisemitic comments on social media, National Security Counsel spokesman John Kirby said Monday.

“There’s innovation out there in the private sector that we’d be foolish to walk away from,” Kirby replied, when a reporter asked if the government was reconsidering its contracts with Musk’s rocket-maker and his high-speed satellite internet provider.

“I’m not aware of any specific efforts to address our concerns over his rhetoric through the way that his companies provide support to our national security establishment,” said Kirby.

Just because the federal government has no plans to walk away from Musk’s technology, however, “doesn’t mean that we accept or agree with or condone in any way that antisemitic rhetoric that he pushed,” Kirby added.

Last week, Musk agreed with an antisemitic conspiracy theory posted on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. The theory claimed Jewish people pushed a “dialectical hatred against whites.” Musk replied, “You speak the actual truth.”

In response to the comments, major companies like Apple and Disney paused their advertising spending on X.

Decoupling the federal government from Musk’s companies could be complicated, however.

The Pentagon has commissioned Starlink technology to provide internet coverage to Ukraine, as the country’s defensive war against Russia rages on.

In September, Musk’s SpaceX won a separate Pentagon contract for Starshield, a military-specific version of Starlink that is still under development.

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