Tesla Chief Excutive Officer Elon Musk sparked outrage on Twitter after comparing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to Adolf Hitler in a message purportedly expressing sympathy for truckers protesting COVID-19 vaccine mandates.
The billionaire's post was in response to a CoinDesk story about the Canadian government sanctioning various cryptocurrency wallets for their alleged involvement in sponsoring trucker protests in the country.
The trucker protests have gripped both the Canadian economy and the nation's capital, Ottawa. Musk removed the Twitter message by mid-afternoon Thursday, without providing any explanation.
Musk tweeted in late January in favor of Canadian truckers who have blocked roads and bridges, drawing international attention to their protest to Trudeau's government's health policies.
Musk responded to a tweet explaining how Trudeau's administration had directed banks to assist in reducing funding to demonstrators by posting an image of Hitler with the phrase "Stop comparing me to Justin Trudeau" written over his head and "I had a budget" written below.
Trudeau's use of emergency powers to put a halt to the trucker protests in Ottawa has been slammed by conservatives in the United States, who have cheered the anti-vaccine protests from afar and publicly supported similar demonstrations across the country.
The government will have the authority to remove truckers and their vehicles under Trudeau's Emergency Act, including by conscripting tow truck drivers to take the trucks off municipal roadways.
Meanwhile, Musk and his company accused the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday of conducting an "endless" investigation as retaliation for Musk's criticism of the government.
Musk has around 75 million followers on Twitter, making him one of the platform's most renowned users. That is frequently viewed as a marketing advantage for electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla.
Musk is known for his caustic humor and candid assessments, but his comparison of Trudeau to Hitler, who was responsible for the slaughter of millions of Jews and the outbreak of World War II, went too far for many Twitter users.
"@elonmusk makes an odious analogy between Trudeau and Hitler. Avoid such behavior. You just look dumb," @ElliotMalin said. At 12 p.m. on Thursday, the original tweet was replaced with the message "This Tweet was deleted by the Tweet author."
Canada's Minister of Industry, Francois-Philippe Champagne, replied to Musk on Twitter, calling his alleged statements "very frankly disturbing."
However, his tweet garnered over 35,000 likes, over 9,000 retweets, and a slew of enthusiastic reactions, including one from @maroongolf17, who stated "my next car has to be a #tesla now."
