How Elon Musk Continues His Incitement Against Islam

Billionaire Elon Musk has come under fire for amplifying claims that the US Agency for International Development (USAID) had given over $164 million to terrorist-linked organisations. 

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has condemned Musk's remarks, calling him a hateful person whose words fuel Islamophobia.

The exchange has further polarized debates surrounding US foreign aid and the treatment of Muslim organizations. 

This month, the Trump administration announced the firing of 2,000 USAID workers and the suspension of thousands more globally.

While Musk’s remarks have drawn condemnation from civil rights groups, some of his supporters argue that these organizations should face greater scrutiny for their ties to foreign entities.

Musk has previously been accused of promoting white supremacist rhetoric and racist theories such as the ‘Great Replacement’, which promotes a conspiracy to replace white Christian populations in the West with Muslims.

Incitement and Islamophobia

Billionaire Elon Musk, who oversees the Trump administration's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), has accused the USAID of supporting terrorism by funding 18 charitable organizations, foundations and institutions simply because their names included the words ‘Islam’, ‘Islamic’, or ‘Palestine’, as well as those with Arabic names.

He reshared a tweet claiming that the USAID allocated $165 million to the organization that are falsely accused of being terrorist organizations, adding: “As many have said, why are we paying terrorist organizations and certain countries to hate us?”

The post included a financial expenditure breakdown for these organizations, none of which have ever been linked or even investigated for connections to terrorism. 

However, Musk, who owns X, reshared the tweet and endorsed it, with his repost viewed by approximately 17 million people.

USAID partners with a number of agencies, foundations, and charitable organizations to implement its programs around the world. 

These organizations, which are officially recognized and accredited, receive funding to conduct development and humanitarian work.

Many of them play a critical role within American civil society, serving impoverished communities, providing medical treatment, and delivering humanitarian aid domestically, while some expand their charitable work internationally.

The organizations listed in the misleading post include the Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy, Islamic Action Network, the Arab American Institute and the Palestinian Children's Relief Fund.

In its first response, the CAIR condemned Musk's post describing Islamic groups as terrorist organizations, considering them to be inflammatory and fueling hate speech. 

“Anyone who sees the word 'Islam' in the name of an American charity and then immediately declares that the charity must be a terrorist organization is a hateful person who must know next to nothing about American Muslims and their contributions to our society, including humanitarian work,” it said.

The CAIR noted that Muslim American and Arab American organizations are duly registered nonprofit organizations that have the same right to apply for federal funding as every other eligible charity, stressing that most of the organizations listed in the table Musk shared also received government grants during Trump’s first presidency.

It asked: “When will Musk start talking about the billions of dollars of American taxpayer money that the Israeli government has used to kill tens of thousands of innocent men, women and children in Gaza, instead of slandering American citizens?”

On his part, CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad confirmed on X that Musk’s statements are reckless and dangerous.

“This kind of rhetoric fuels Islamophobia, endangers innocent lives, and undermines the values of justice and equality,” he added.

Religious Ideology

This is not the first time Elon Musk has spread false information regarding Arabs and Muslims.

 Musk came under fire last year for reposting a 2019 video of the UAE’s foreign minister warning about the rise in extremism among Muslims in Europe.

Anas Altikriti, founder of the UK-based Cordoba Foundation, denounced the video and criticised Musk’s remarks as absurd.

“This video has been viewed more than a hundred million times and has been used by extremist and Zionist organisations,” Nezam Mahdawi, a US-based news correspondent said.

In December 2022, Musk also angered Muslims in the U.S. after he posted an expressive picture on his X (then Twitter) account, containing a number Symbols of ideas that seek - as the picture indicates - to wash brains.

The picture that Musk shared and commented on it I am not brainwashed contains the colors of the flags of homosexual movements, the star that symbolizes the communist ideology, as well as the crescent that symbolizes the Islamic religion.

On its part, the CAIR criticized Musk's post, saying: “We invite Musk to meet American Muslims and learn the truth about Islam.”

It added, “Not only will this help him respect and better serve his diverse clientele, but it may also bring him closer to the peace that money and fame can never buy.”

CAIR Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell also criticized Musk's tweet, saying: “American Muslims can take it as a joke.”

“Associating a common symbol of Islam (the star and crescent) with both brainwashing and irreligious ideologies like communism is as bigoted and meaningless as using the Star of David to target the Jewish community,” he added.

On his part, Ibrahim Hooper, an official at the CAIR, described Musk's post as Islamophobic and anti-Muslim, noting the increase in incidents related to hatred and bias against Muslims.

He said there was a 9% increase in incidents from 2020 and the highest number of civil rights complaints in 27 years, including a 28% increase in hate and bias incidents.

Conspiracy Theories

Musk is known for his wider links to Islamophobic groups and conspiracy theories. 

Earlier this year, he made the headlines when he repeated fake news about so-called 'Islamic' grooming gangs in the UK, as well as endorsing the imprisoned far-right British anti-Islam activist Tommy Robinson.

Last January, The Independent published an article saying: “As the horrific grooming gang scandal returns to the headlines, anti-Muslim sentiment is once again dominating political discourse, particularly from the far right.”

It pointed out that there is a damaging myth that the organized sexual exploitation of children that took place in countless cities across the UK in the early 2000s was somehow linked to a religion that is peacefully followed by a billion people worldwide.

It said that Musk has led this latest wave of virulent Islamophobia, pushing misinformation on his X account that grooming gangs are a Muslim issue and a sign of failed multiculturalism.

It noted that Musk has also accused Labour politicians, such as Keir Starmer and Jess Phillips, of being apologists for rape on a genocidal scale and complicit in the rape of Britain.

It is noteworthy that the UK government itself had debunked the claim years ago that grooming gangs are a uniquely Muslim problem.

The newspaper pointed out that these false allegations of sexual harassment gangs portray all Muslims and immigrants as enemies of Britain, ignoring the fact that many Muslims have been part of the fabric of Britain for centuries.

It pointed to Musk’s record of promoting far-right, anti-immigrant and anti-Islam narratives, such as false reports that the Southport attacker was Muslim last summer.

Studies showed that right-wing extremists had killed more people in the U.S. than Muslim extremists since 9/11, and that in Europe, separatist and right-wing groups carried out more attacks than so-called Islamist extremists. 

Yet, media coverage painted a vastly different picture. A Georgia State University study found that attacks by Muslims received 357% more media coverage than those by non-Muslims, creating the false impression that Muslims were uniquely responsible for violence.