Rhiannon Ingle
Warning: This article contains discussion of discrimination against the LGBTQ+ community which some readers may find distressing.
Elon Musk has sparked major outrage after his latest comments about his transgender daughter, Vivian.
The 21-year-old - whose mother is Musk’s first wife, Justin Wilson – has been financially independent from her dad since she came out as trans in 2020 and has regularly publicly called out her 'pathetic man-child' father, whom she hasn't spoken to since coming out.
In the latest update on the saga, the 54-year-old Tesla boss has once again brought up the topic of what he's dubbed the 'woke mind virus'.
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It all started when the press office for California Governor Gavin Newsom appeared on New York Times columnist Ezra Klein’s show earlier this week and touched upon the topic of trans sports.
During the interview, Newsom said: "That’s an issue no one wants to hear about, because 80 percent of people listening disagree with my position on this, but it comes from my heart, not just my head. It wasn’t a political aberration.
“I want to see trans kids… I have a trans godson. There’s no governor who’s signed more pro-trans legislation than I have."
The America political action committee, which was set up by Musk to support US President Donald Trump's run for president last year, then shared a clip from the interview on its X account yesterday (11 December).
Newsom's press office then responded to the post, writing: "Correct. We’re sorry your daughter hates you, Elon."
Taking no time to respond, Musk, who is the world's richest person with a reported net worth of $495.2 billion, fired back at the jab with a post deadnaming and misgendering Vivian, who requested a name change in legal documents filed in 2022, with her surname switching to that of her mother.
At the time, she cited the reasons for the change as 'gender identity' and 'the fact that I no longer live with or wish to be related to my biological father in any way, shape or form'.
"I assume you’re referring to my son, Xavier, who has a tragic mental illness caused by the evil woke mind virus you push on vulnerable children. I love Xavier very much and hope he recovers," Musk wrote.
He continued: "My daughters are Azure, Exa (she goes by Y) and Arcadia, and they do indeed love me very much."
Vivian, however, has yet to respond to Musk’s transphobic post.
"Crazy!" one X user wrote, responding to Musk's tweet, while a second lamented: "Wow."
And a third added: "Disgusting."
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, contact the LGBT Foundation on 0345 3 30 30 30, 10am–6pm Monday to Friday, or email [email protected]