Why is Elon Musk in a racism row with Scotland's ex-first minister?

Billionaire Elon Musk bought Twitter in 2022 then renamed it X

A spat between the world's richest person and the former first minister of Scotland has reignited in recent days - but the feud between Elon Musk and Humza Yousaf has been building for years.

Tensions escalated over the weekend, when the billionaire X owner called he ex-SNP leader a racist "scumbag", claiming he "loathes" white people.

It came after Mr Yousaf had called Mr Musk a "dangerous race baiter" and "one of the most dangerous men on the planet”.

The tech entrepreneur has been widely criticised for his management of X, and for his own posts during recent far-right riots in England and Northern Ireland

However, the origins of the row lie back in the pandemic summer of 2020, and are linked to the murder of George Floyd.

Racism speech

On 10 June 2020, the Scottish Parliament held a debate on showing solidarity with anti-racism demonstrations held in response to Mr Floyd's murder.

Mr Yousaf, the then justice secretary, told MSPs it was evident that Scotland had "a problem of structural racism".

He said: "At 99% of the meetings that I go to, I am the only non-white person in the room."

Mr Yousaf read out a list of senior positions - including the lord advocate, solicitor general and Police Scotland's chief constable - and, after each, added: "white".

He said the same was true for every high court judge, every deputy chief constable, every assistant chief constable and every prison governor in Scotland. The then SNP minister also highlighted senior positions in the health sector and the trade union movement.

"That is a collective failure that includes every single one of us," he told MSPs. "I hope that we are sitting uncomfortably, because those should be uncomfortable truths for us all."

Humza Yousaf, who has long faced racist and Islamophobic abuse, has accused Elon Musk of being a "race baiter"

An edited version of the lengthy speech was widely shared by right-wing accounts on social media.

By October 2023, it had reached the attention of Mr Musk on X, which he had rebranded from Twitter three months earlier.

He called Mr Yousaf - who had become the first ethnic minority leader of a devolved government and the first Muslim to lead a major UK party - a "blatant racist".

A fact check by the Reuters news agency concluded that the clip misrepresented Mr Yousaf's comments by suggesting he had been arguing that Scotland contained too many white people – when he had been complaining about racial injustice and a lack of people of colour in positions of power.

Shortly afterwards, Mr Yousaf posted: "Racists foaming at the mouth at my very existence."

He then added: "Me:" and shared a gif from the BBC comedy Still Game, featuring the character Navid dancing in his shop.

The then first minister's spokesperson said Mr Yousaf had suffered racist abuse his whole life, adding: "Mr Musk should use his position to tackle racism and hatred that goes unchecked on the social media platform he owns."

Far-right riots

Tensions between the pair flared again following days of far-right violence in cities in England and Northern Ireland in recent weeks.

Mr Musk was highly critical of the UK authorities and the way the disorder has been handled.

He suggested that "civil war is inevitable" and promoted a conspiracy theory that far-right agitators were treated more harshly than minority groups.

A spokesperson for Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said there was "no justification" for the comments.

Mr Musk and other social media owners have been urged by regulator Ofcom to protect users from content likely to incite violence or hatred.

Mr Yousaf was asked about the tech businessman's intervention during an LBC event at the Edinburgh Festival last Thursday.

He branded the X owner “one of the most dangerous men on the planet”, adding: “He is not accountable to anybody, he has vast wealth at his fingertips and disposal and he uses it for some of the most wicked evil I have seen."

Mr Yousaf accused Mr Musk of using his wealth to amplify the far right and white supremacists.

Elon Musk has been criticised for his response to violent far-right riots in England and Northern Ireland

After the ex-SNP leader made similar comments to CNN, Mr Musk described him as "super, super racist".

He posted on X: "Scotland gave him everything and yet he loathes white people.”

The row escalated further when it was reported Mr Yousaf could take legal action.

His lawyer, Aamer Anwar, told the Sunday Mail that Mr Musk had “effectively painted a target on Humza Yousaf’s back with his completely unacceptable, untrue and inflammatory comments”.

Meanwhile, Mr Yousaf posted on X: “Elon Musk is a dangerous race baiter who must be held to account for his actions.

“I can't think what it is that upsets him so much about a Brown, Muslim, progressive politician? But his billions won't stop me calling out his support for the far-right.”

The tech entrepreneur responded by claiming Mr Yousaf was "obviously super racist against white people".

"I dare that scumbag to sue me," he posted. "Go ahead, make my day…”

Mr Musk added: “Legal discovery will show that however big a racist he’s been in public communications, he is vastly worse in private communications.”

He did not elaborate on what that comment referred to.

What happens now?

Mr Yousaf has declined to speak to BBC Scotland about the issue, while Mr Musk very rarely gives interviews to media.

Having sacked about 80% of former Twitter staff following his takeover, Mr Musk announced last year that requests to X's media department would be met with an automatic response: a poo emoji.

The response now reads "busy now, please check back later".

It seems likely that the war of words might continue to play out on X, or possibly in a court room.

Whatever happens next, it is fair to say the pair's differences are nowhere near being resolved.