Published February 09,2025
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US tech billionaire Elon Musk mentioned Friday he was reinstating a deputy who give up a job giving him entry to the delicate private knowledge of hundreds of thousands of Americans after the staffer was linked to a racist social media account.
Marko Elez, 25, resigned from Musk’s self-styled Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) Thursday when The Wall Street Journal uncovered a welter of offensive posts on the account, together with a boast from final July that “I was racist before it was cool.”
Musk — US President Donald Trump’s shut confidante and level man on spending cuts — requested his 216 million X followers if he ought to reinstate “@DOGE staffer who made inappropriate statements via a now deleted pseudonym.”
More than three-quarters of the 385,000 respondents voted “yes,” prompting Musk to announce: “He will be brought back. To err is human, to forgive divine.”
X relaxed its enforcement of offensive rhetoric — reinstating many banned far-right figures — after it was acquired in 2022 by Musk, whose notorious raised-arm salute throughout Trump’s inauguration drew comparisons to a Nazi salute.
The world’s richest man has drawn criticism at house and in Europe for his vocal assist for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) social gathering and repeatedly insulting the US ally’s political leaders.
“Normalize Indian hate,” the account related to Elez posted in September, as Musk was dealing with a barrage of criticism from the Trumpist far proper for his assist for hiring expert international employees within the tech sector.
In one other submit, it reportedly mentioned it “would not mind at all if Gaza and Israel were both wiped off the face of the Earth.”
Elez’s resignation got here after a courtroom dominated that he and one other DOGE employee might proceed to entry the non-public info of hundreds of thousands of Americans saved in Treasury cost programs.
His prospects for redemption rapidly improved as Vice President JD Vance — whose spouse and youngsters have Indian heritage — wrote a submit blaming the media for the disgraced official’s downfall.
“Here’s my view: I obviously disagree with some of Elez’s posts, but I don’t think stupid social media activity should ruin a kid’s life,” mentioned Vance.
“We shouldn’t reward journalists who try to destroy people. Ever. So I say bring him back. If he’s a bad dude or a terrible member of the team, fire him for that.”
Trump — who has launched into an aggressive purge of initiatives to counter discrimination in authorities — later instructed reporters within the White House he supported Vance’s stance.
Source: www.anews.com.tr