Elon Musk has branded Humza Yousaf a “super racist scumbag” and dared the former first minister to sue him.
The billionaire said “go ahead, make my day” following reports that Mr Yousaf was considering taking legal action in an escalating social media row between the pair on X, formerly Twitter, which is owned by Mr Musk.
On Sunday, Mr Musk effectively branded Mr Yousaf a “dangerous race baiter”, in response to the former SNP leader sharing an article in the Sunday Mail claiming that he was “considering all options” including going to court.
The exchange came two days after Mr Musk described Mr Yousaf as a “super, super racist” and claimed he “loathes white people”.
The comments were a response to an attack the ex-SNP leader had launched on Mr Musk at the Edinburgh Fringe.
He described Mr Musk, one of the wealthiest people in the world, as “one of the most dangerous men on the planet” and accused him of attempting to stoke civil wars in Europe.
The allegations of racism against Mr Yousaf by Musk date back to last year, when he responded to a three-year-old speech Mr Yousaf gave at Holyrood at the height of the Black Lives Matter movement.
The then-SNP justice secretary had pointed out a succession of figures in Scottish public life were white.
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.https://t.co/d2i2PIpVMd
— Humza Yousaf (@HumzaYousaf) August 11, 2024
Musk has repeated the racism allegation over recent days, in response to Mr Yousaf’s widely reported comments in the Scottish capital.
“Anybody who goes on social media, even if they own the platform and thinks that free speech is absolute whether in the UK or USA, needs to think again,” Aamer Anwar, Mr Yousaf’s lawyer, said.
“Free speech carries responsibility and if you break the law there are consequences, as we have seen in recent days.
“Elon Musk has effectively painted a target on Humza Yousaf’s back with his completely unacceptable, untrue and inflammatory comments.”
On Sunday, Mr Yousaf shared the report on X which had raised the prospect of him taking legal action.
He accompanied the link to the news story by calling Musk a “dangerous race baiter” adding that “his billions won’t stop me calling out his support for the far-right.”
Musk responded by agreeing with a comment in which another social media user told Mr Yousaf it was he who was a “dangerous race baiter who must be held to account for your actions.”
Musk later added: “He’s obviously super racist against white people. I dare that scumbag to sue me. Go ahead, make my day…”
He’s obviously super racist against white people. I dare that scumbag to sue me. Go ahead, make my day …
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 11, 2024
While the pair have clashed before on social media, their latest row has erupted over comments Mr Yousaf made at the Edinburgh Fringe, to broadcaster Matthew Stadlen.
In remarks that he later repeated in a broadcast interview with CNN, he accused Musk of using his power and influence for “evil”.
It followed a series of inflammatory social media interventions by Musk, including claiming that civil war was “inevitable” in the UK.
Mr Yousaf said: “He is not accountable to anybody. He has vast wealth at his fingertips, and he uses it for some of the most wicked, evil I’ve seen.”
The former SNP leader repeatedly said Musk was “not an idiot” and that the tech entrepreneur could easily “do a simple Google search” to disprove any of the false claims he spread on X.
“Instead he seeks to amplify it and perpetuate it,” Mr Yousaf said. “So he’s amplified these white supremacists, these far-right neo-Nazi conspiracy theories and has almost called for civil war in Europe.”
Mr Yousaf has repeatedly rejected any accusations of racism and suggested last week that he may devote the rest of his working life to countering the far right and extremism.
In response to Musk’s initial attack last year, his spokesman said he had “stood firm against hatred and bigotry, of any kind” throughout his life.
The MSP has repeatedly spoken about being targeted by racist attacks.
Police Scotland received a deluge of complaints against Mr Yousaf for the Holyrood speech he gave in 2020, following the introduction of his hate crime laws, but dismissed them all.
A fact check by the news agency Reuters found that the speech had been misrepresented online to suggest Mr Yousaf had been arguing that Scotland contained too many white people, which he did not.
Both Mr Musk and Mr Yousaf have been approached for comment.