Elon Musk referred to gender-reassignment surgery as "child mutilation and sterilisation"
Tesla and SpaceX chief Elon Musk, in an interview with American conservative commentator Jordan Peterson, alleged that his estranged transgender daughter, Vivian Jenna Wilson, was "killed" by what he termed the "woke mind virus" after being persuaded into agreeing to gender-affirming care procedures.
During the interview, Mr Musk referred to gender-reassignment surgery as "child mutilation and sterilisation". The world's richest man claimed that during the COVID-19 pandemic, he was convinced to sign documents for one of his children.
"I was essentially tricked into signing documents for one of my older boys," Mr Musk stated. "This was really before I had any understanding of what was going on, and we had Covid going on, so there was a lot of confusion and I was told [my child] might commit suicide."
Mr Musk, who is also the owner of X (formerly Twitter), accused those involved in promoting gender-affirming care of targeting children "who are far below the age of consent."
"I was tricked into doing this," Mr Musk claimed. "I lost my son, essentially. They call it 'deadnaming' for a reason. The reason they call it 'deadnaming' is because your son is dead."
The experience, Mr Musk claims, has set him on a mission to combat what he describes as the "woke mind virus." He said, "I vowed to destroy the woke mind virus after that. And we're making some progress."
Vivian Jenna Wilson, Mr Musk's 20-year-old daughter, legally changed her name and gender at the age of 18. This legal transition occurred on June 22 in 2022 at a court in California.
"I no longer live with or wish to be related to my biological father in any way, shape, or form," Ms Wilson had said back then. Ms Wilson's mother, Justine Wilson, a Canadian author, divorced Mr Musk in 2008.