Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-NY) was heavily criticized after her comments during a speech outside the Housing and Urban Development Department on Monday, indicating Elon Musk should “go back to South Africa.”
The remarks were ill-advised on two fronts: 1) She was trying to counter a debunked claim that Musk himself had said Italians should stay in Italy and Japanese people should stay in Japan, and 2) Telling successful immigrants to go back home sure seems xenophobic.
“It was interesting yesterday I was watching a video of an interview of Elon Musk with someone where he said that the Italians should stay in Italy and the Chinese should stay in China, my question to Elon Musk is, ‘What the hell are you doing here in America?'” Velázquez said.
“Go back to South Africa,” she concluded.
Now, an intrepid reporter, one who might actually want to make a name for themselves in an industry that desperately needs to recalibrate toward the truth, might have a couple of questions come to mind.
First and foremost would be, “How is it possible to have watched a video of Musk saying something he never said?”
The second would be, “Why do we feel it’s okay to demonize a successful African-American?” (The wealthy entrepreneur grew up in South Africa).
I mean, that kind of comment would almost assuredly result in 24/7 news coverage if it came from a Republican lawmaker, no? Since we know there aren’t many journalists out there interested in holding Democrats accountable, we’ll have to look to social media for a valid response to the New York congresswoman’s remarks.