Elon Musk tweets ‘take the red pill’ as CEO continues campaign against coronavirus lockdown – and Ivanka Trump agrees
ELON MUSK has encouraged his Twitter followers to “take the red pill,” continuing his streak of strange tweets. The Tesla CEO made the offhanded suggestion to his 34 million followers on Sunday. Musk was referencing a scene in the 1999 film The Matrix, in which the character Morpheus reveals to Neo that he’s been living […]
ELON MUSK has encouraged his Twitter followers to “take the red pill,” continuing his streak of strange tweets.
The Tesla CEO made the offhanded suggestion to his 34 million followers on Sunday.
Musk was referencing a scene in the 1999 film The Matrix, in which the character Morpheus reveals to Neo that he’s been living in a computer simulation and is given the choice between a red and a blue pill.
“You take the blue pill, the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe,” says Morpheus.
“You take the red pill, you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes.”
Taking the red pill or being “red-pilled” has become an internet phrase used by the far right to signify a political awakening.
The phrase was first popularized around 2013 on a misogynistic subreddit called TheRedPill.
Conservative voices praised the tweet as a sign that Musk, who supported former Democratic candidate Andrew Yang, is joining their ranks.
Ivanka Trump retweeted Musk herself, replying, “Taken!”
Director Lilly Wachowski, who directed the film, wasn’t happy about the exchange between Musk and Tump and called them out on Twitter.
“F**k both of you,” she responded on Sunday.
The tweet comes as Musk takes an increasingly anti-government stance against the ongoing coronavirus lockdown in California.
The virus crisis has forced the shutdown of his Tesla plant in Fremont on March 23, prompting the CEO to file a lawsuit against Alameda County.
In a tweet announcing the lawsuit, Musk slammed county health officials as “unelected and ignorant” and accused them of “acting contrary to our Constitutional freedoms.”
As lockdown protests broke out nationwide in late April, he tweeted “FREE AMERICA NOW” and decried quarantine stay-at-home orders as “fascist”.
“Give people their freedom back!” Musk said, followed by a retweet of a Wall Street Journal opinion piece titled Do Lockdowns Save Many Lives? In Most Places, the Data Say No.
The tech entrepreneur lashed out on social media about restrictions to curb the spread of COVID-19, and retweeted a clip of a coronavirus conspiracy video claiming case numbers are being falsely inflated.
“He is right,” Musk replied to the tweet.
On Monday, Musk said he’d defy California’s lockdown order and will resume production at his Tesla factory, saying: “I will be on the line with everyone else. If anyone is arrested, I ask that it only be me.”
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The Space X founder hasn’t limited his outlandish comments to lockdown orders.
Musk confused the world when he revealed the name of his newborn son, X Æ A-12, and its pronunciation on May 6.
He made the revelation days after he bizarrely decided to ‘own no house’ or any other material possessions, angering his Canadian singer girlfriend Grimes.
