By Tom Ozimek
Tech entrepreneur Elon Musk has renewed his criticism of left-wing financier-activist George Soros, claiming that the big-ticket donor of various left-leaning causes “fundamentally hates humanity” and is undermining civilization.
Mr. Musk made the remarks in an Oct. 31 episode of Joe Rogan’s popular podcast, in which the Tesla CEO unloaded on Mr. Soros and his history of donating money to the election campaigns of progressive district attorneys who would pursue policies that are soft on crime.
“He is, I believe, the top contributor to the Democratic party,” Mr. Musk told Mr. Rogan.
Mr. Soros was the largest individual donor in the 2022 elections, according to campaign finance data compiled by OpenSecrets. He made $178.8 million in federal contributions in the 2022 election cycle, all of it to Democrats.
“He’s doing things that erode the fabric of civilization,” Mr. Musk continued. “Getting DAs [district attorneys] elected who refuse to prosecute crime; that’s part of the problem in San Francisco, and L.A., and a bunch of other cities.”
“While I think San Francisco is a beautiful city and we should really fight hard to kind of right the ship of San Francisco. If you walk around downtown San Francisco, right near the X/Twitter headquarters, it’s a zombie apocalypse,” Mr. Musk said. “I mean, it’s rough.”
San Francisco has been plagued by unprecedented levels of crime, drug abuse, and homelessness.
The streets of downtown San Francisco paint a shocking picture of the fentanyl crisis, with ubiquitous drug use, while homeless encampments and vagrancy spread throughout the city.
Videos circulating on social media from San Francisco this summer show graphic scenes of addiction, including a pregnant woman with gashes and open wounds giving birth on the sidewalk while clutching a fentanyl pipe.
A number of companies, including Nordstrom, Whole Foods, and Saks Fifth Avenue have left the area amid unprecedented theft and property crime in what some describe as a retail apocalypse.
‘It’s Crazy’
During their discussion, Mr. Musk asked Mr. Rogan if he had been to downtown San Francisco.
“Not lately, no,” Mr. Rogan replied, adding that “I’ve heard it’s crazy.”
Mr. Musk replied. “You can’t believe it until you go there.”
Mr. Musk then said what’s partly to blame is a “mind virus” philosophy, which he previously called a “woke mind virus,” that was being piped to people around the world by social media platforms controlled by left-leaning types.
“That philosophy was being piped to Earth,” Mr. Musk said. “A philosophy that would be ordinarily quite niche and geographically constrained, so that sort of the fallout area would be limited, was effectively given an information weapon, an information technology weapon to propagate what is essentially a mind virus to the rest of Earth, and the outcome of that mind virus is very clear if you walk around the streets of downtown San Francisco.’
“It is the end of civilization,” Mr. Musk said of the scenes on the streets of San Francisco, adding that the reason he bought Twitter was because he was “worried it was having a corrosive effect on civilization.”
‘Its Like Changing the Laws’
During the portion of their discussion that focused on Mr. Soros, Mr. Musk said that the billionaire financier has been “very smart” in using money to achieve his aims.
Mr. Musk said that Mr. Soros realized that the value for money in local races is much higher than it is in national races.
“The lowest value for money is a presidential race. Then next lowest value for money is a Senate race, then a Congress,” Mr. Musk said.
“And when you get to city and state district attorneys, the value for money is extremely good,” he added.
Mr. Musk said that by helping get local officials elected that share his left-leaning views, Mr. Soros found he could help push policies without having to actually change the laws.
“You just need to change how they are enforced,” Mr. Musk said.
“If nobody chooses to enforce the laws, or the laws are differentially enforced, then its like changing the laws,” he added. “In my opinion, he fundamentally hates humanity,” Mr. Musk said of Mr. Soros. “That’s my opinion.”
The Open Society Foundation that Mr. Soros founded did not respond to a request for comment for this story.
However, Mr. Soros has faced numerous similar allegations that he is using his vast wealth to push—sometimes radically—leftist progressive policies, with some district attorneys he helped get elected earning the monicker “Soros-funded DAs.”
For his part, Mr. Soros wrote an op-ed explaining why he’s donated to “reform-minded prosecutors” and why he has “no intention of stopping.”
“The funds I provide enable sensible reform-minded candidates to receive a hearing from the public. Judging by the results, the public likes what it’s hearing,” Mr. Soros wrote.
Mr. Soros has ceded control of Open Society Foundations to his son, Alex Soros, who has pledged to be even more politically involved than his father.
Earlier this year, Mr. Alex Soros warned in an op-ed in Politico that a victory in 2024 by former President Donald Trump—or another “MAGA-style” candidate—would deliver a blow to the globalist agenda.
