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'I welcome support from African Americans': Ron DeSantis's joke about Elon Musk nod splits Internet

Mainstream media anchors didn't approve of DeSantis's comment and suggested that the joke stems from racism.

Liberal mainstream media slammed Florida Governor Ron DeSantis after he made a joke while responding to Elon Musk's support of him as a presidential candidate in 2024. Musk announced on Wednesday, June 15 that he voted for a Republican for the first time ever in the recent Texas elections. He also mentioned that he was leaning towards supporting DeSantis as a presidential candidate in 2024. "I voted for Mayra Flores – the first time I ever voted Republican. Massive red wave in 2022", he wrote on Twitter.

When told about Musk's support, DeSantis, a Republican, said at a press conference in Madeira Beach, Florida: "But with Elon Musk what I would say is: I welcome support from African Americans. What can I say?", referencing Musk who is white but born in South Africa. Conservatives in Congress often accuse Twitter of having a left-wing bias, especially after the company banned former President Donald Trump's account for his incitement of the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. However, Musk has promised the social media giant will promote free speech under his watch.

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Liberal mainstream media pundits didn't approve of DeSantis' comment and suggested that the joke stems from racism. "If said before that @GovRonDeSantis is a humorless, more openly fascist version of Trump. Here he is displaying the former quality in that for him, ‘humor’ means mocking Black Americans with his own, idiotic and offensive version of replacement theory. Black Floridians take note," MSNBC host Joy Reid tweeted.

ABC contributor Yvette Simpson tweeted, "And we thought we couldn’t do worse than Donald Trump. They are saying the ‘racist part out loud’ and laughing about it. No more white sheets—-it’s all out in the open now."

One user wrote, "African-Americans literally mean black Americans of African not white people from Africa. But good attempt at trying to be relevant!"

"If you gave a class an assignment to design an a**hole, could they possible do a worse job than DeathSantis?" another wrote.

"Racism isn't cool or funny," someone else chimed in.

"Elon Musk Is a white South African NOT an African American. Republicans just love take every single chance they get to keep denegrating black people. Ron DeSantis is a f***ing racist," another offered.

CNN legal analyst Norm Eisen tweeted, "I understand the ugliness of what he‘s doing here because I am a member of a minority too. We are not a punch line & neither are Black Americans. Jokes about skin color & physical features have no place. This is sick."

While many slammed DeSantis, there were a few who seemed to be in support of him. "He actually did a terrific job in getting FL thru the pandemic. I think the final report card ranked FL 6th. FLs education rank is 3rd, Economy 6th. So not bad", a user wrote. 

Another claimed, "Check the Florida economy against any other large state. Their kids were in school not home playing video games for two years."

A third offered, "We love what he’s doing for Florida and what he can do for the USA. Democrats fuk up everything."

Last month, when Musk said that he would vote Republican in the next election, Florida Democratic Party spokesperson Travis Reuther accused DeSantis of "making his sales pitch to every out-of-state billionaire he can find." DeSantis' candidacy for governor has drawn support from 42 billionaires, according to the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. "It's not surprising that another ultra-wealthy billionaire would come out in support of Ron DeSantis," Reuther said, "because that is who DeSantis works for."