In “Long before Musk, Henry Ford battled with Jewish Groups“ (11/8/23), The Washington Post stoops to an absurd comparison between Henry Ford and Elon Musk.  Henry Ford was known for his rabidly antisemitic hate speech, whereas Elon Musk merely hosts a virtual town square for speech by others.  Ford was a source of inspiration to Adolf Hitler, whereas Elon Musk has never backed a hate group.

More specifically, a widely read Ford publication called the Independent prioritized the mission of disseminating his antisemitic beliefs.  The Independent contained a series of articles called “The International Jew: The World’s Problem.”  Musk has never published a periodical, let alone one dedicated to a discriminatory cause.

The Post may be right that Musk is “sometimes called America’s modern Ford.”  But that linkage is based on their success as business innovators, not their political views.  Just because Musk had one public disagreement with Jewish groups is hardly a reason to equate him with an antisemitic villain like Ford.  The comparison is a stretch that would make Gumby break.

Image: Elon Musk.  Credit: JD Lasica via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0 (cropped).