DeSantis defends Musk amidst controversy

In a segment of State of the Union on Sunday, Florida Governor and Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis came to Elon Musk's defense, weighing in on his recent antisemitic conspiracy theory controversy by not really weighing in at all.

Speaking to Jake Tapper, who asked for his opinion on the matter seeing as though he announced his campaign on Musk's platform earlier this year, DeSantis claimed to have not seen the discourse that led to many big-name advertisers pulling away from X (formerly Twitter) in which Musk backed antisemitic claims.

“I did not see the comment," DeSantis said. "I know Elon has had a target on his back ever since he purchased Twitter because he’s taking it in a direction that a lot of people who are used to controlling the narrative don’t like. So I was a big supporter of him purchasing Twitter. I think that they’re obviously still working some stuff out, but I did not see those comments.” 

Further into the discussion, DeSantis referred to Musk as "a guy that believes in America," going on to say that he's "never seen him do anything" and that it would be surprising to him if the claims made against him were true. 

TAPPER: Elon Musk is a pretty powerful guy and he's out there endorsing some pretty hideous antisemitic conspiracy theories and I still haven't heard you condemn it.

DESANTIS: Well, because I haven't see it. I have no idea what the context is. pic.twitter.com/Nnh9EXKBQr

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) November 19, 2023

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