Elon Musk, the owner of X, has appeared to describe Scotland’s first minister as a “blatant racist” in a post on the social media platform.
Mr Musk, who took over Twitter last year before renaming it as X, responded to an account which posted a speech Mr Yousaf made in the Scottish Parliament while he was justice secretary in the wake of the murder of George Floyd in the US.
In response to the post, made by an account named “End Wokeness”, Mr Musk wrote: “What a blatant racist!”
As of Friday morning, the post had been seen by more than 500,000 accounts.
What a blatant racist!
Advertisement— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 26, 2023
In the emotional speech in 2020, the now first minister recited the final words of Mr Floyd before his death while being restrained by police officer Derek Chauvin, which was captured on video and sparked worldwide protests calling for racial equality.
Mr Yousaf went on to highlight that the people he dealt with on a daily basis in his portfolio were all white.
Reciting the names of the heads of the legal profession, the courts and the police in Scotland at the time, Mr Yousaf punctuated them with the word “white”, before moving on to the medical profession, trade unions and directors general of the Scottish government.
He concluded by saying: “That is not good enough.”
In a cryptic post on the platform early on Friday, Mr Yousaf uploaded a Gif of Still Game character Navid dancing to depict his feelings, alongside the comment: “Racists foaming at the mouth at my very existence.”
Racists foaming at the mouth at my very existence.
Me: pic.twitter.com/DsKRWRhnIy— Humza Yousaf (@HumzaYousaf) October 27, 2023
The original post which Mr Musk replied to was made by a prominent right-wing account which has 1.5 million followers and said: “Scotland’s First Minister Humza Yousaf openly despises white people.
“Why would Scotland’s Parliament and King select a guy who hates almost 100% of the country?”
A spokesman for the first minister said: “The First Minister has been on the receiving end of racist hate, abuse and death threats his entire life, and has stood firm against hatred and bigotry, of any kind, throughout.
“Sadly, much of the racist abuse and threats of violence the First Minister faces are directed his way on X – formerly known as Twitter.
“Mr Musk should use his position to tackle racism and hatred that goes unchecked on the social media platform he owns.”
